Sitting in Starbucks yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to people-watch for awhile. I saw something disturbing. Horrifying, really. An entire family of eight came in, placed their orders, pushed a couple of tables together so they could sit together and share this early December Saturday morning bonding over coffee. Then they sat down…and immediately got out their smart phones. They disconnected…checked out…each retreating into their own worlds. It was a devastating reminder of the deterioration of interpersonal connection we experience daily anymore. I was just as guilty…sitting there writing this post as my youngest grandchild improved her vocabulary with a game on her iPod. I have begun to have electronic free visits with my grandkids. Insisting the distracting little buggers stay in our pockets. And we talk. To each other. With each other. We practice making eye contact. We connect.

When Mr. Virgo was alive, he spent an inordinate amount of time glued to the TV. Same thing…bigger instrument. I didn’t like TV so I would sometimes have my cell, iPod, iPad, and laptop going. While we did have a deep connection, we were really just disconnected along side each other. Are we avoiding something? Feelings? Discontentment? What is happening to us as a society as we continue to draw further and further apart? If what is happening in the world is any indication, we barely resemble the humans we were before technology turned us into avatars on a tiny screen. Where we can hide and not have to get messy with emotions. This is disturbing and if it’s not…that’s even MORE disturbing.

I have a proposition. Let’s put it down over the holidays. Let’s disconnect…not from others, but from these devices that are sucking the life and color out of our world. Let’s put a basket on the table in the hallway at every gathering and leave it all there…phones, tablets, iPods, headphones, earbuds. And let’s commit to feeling the love! Let’s just hang it up for awhile.

❤