gadgets

“A good example of how people become closed off from their ecosystem is with their Walkman or iPods. So you start to further close yourself off. You don’t want to breathe the dirty air. You don’t want to hear because it’s annoying. You don’t want to look because it’s ugly. That is why we don’t understand nature, love it, or take care of it. We don’t realize that we depend on it psychologically and physically 100%.” (-Juan Pablo Arego)

IPods are only 1 example of how we can close ourselves off from our environment. Phones (don't get me started on phones), laptops, TV, and even cameras. I have to force myself to put down my camera so many times, because it becomes a barrier between me and the very environment that I'm trying to capture and remember.

I don't think any of these gadgets are inherently bad. But I do think they often function as a harmful barrier between us and the world around us.

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A perfect example of how I felt this barrier happened less than a month ago on my way home from Cameroon. We passengers all filed into line in a Pittsburgh jetway, and I began to observe those around me. Some people were standing and shifting around impatiently, a few were quietly judging/ scowling at those near them in line, and a lot of people were texting. Almost no one was talking, much less touching, each other.

At first, I felt lost. I remembered the Cameroonian jetway in which I had stood less than a week earlier. I remembered conversation, touch, an innate drive to help one another, and a lot of laughter. In the Cameroonian jetway, I found it almost impossible to discern who was family and who were strangers to each other.

But as I stood in the Pittsburgh jetway, everything felt sterile, dark, and lonely, and I found myself in shock at the contrast between the 2 jetways. I felt sad & alone.

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I wonder what our relationships with each other and with the environment would be like if we (among other things) were more mindful of how we used our little gadgets and more intentional about minmizing our use to of them.

I'm pretty sure things would be better. Probably harder. Maybe more complicated. But definitely better.