Everywhere I look.
All I see is a sea of people looking down.
At their phones.
They are oblivious to what is going on in the world around them.
They are oblivious to the conversations they could be having, people they could be meeting, experiences they could be sharing.
They are missing the point. They are missing the moment. They are missing basic human interaction.
Their phones far more their companion than the person next to them.
LOOK UP.
My business thrives on encouraging people to be more social and yet right now, it makes me so sad.
Partially because I realize how much I have been guilty of this myself. Partially because everyone looks…well…
ALONE.
Is this what we have become?
No one ever seems to LOOK UP anymore.
I was a bit of a dufus and did not read properly the requisite emails in terms of heading down to Dynamic Retreats El Coco Loco – a yoga & surf eco-retreat I am on my way to in Nicaragua. As I met up with my neighbours kids (who happened to have just come back from the exact retreat location I am going to) I discovered that there is NO wifi. Like None. Nada. Zip.
I’m sorry…What??
Cue panic.
At an epic level, I started wondering what I would do without being connected for the week. I anxiously started scanning the nearest possible location in which I might be able to connect. (For the record, there is none and seriously….what an asshole am I to be expecting there to be wifi in the middle of flippin Nicaragua on a nature retreat??)
And then I started looking around and noticed everyone looking down.
At their phones.
And all I could think was…I AM SO FORTUNATE.
I am fortunate that for a week, I can thrive on healthy exercise, creativity, soul searching and meditation. If I had access to wifi, I wouldn’t shut off. If I wasn’t aware that there was none, I wouldn’t have realized the importance of the human connection I want to focus on. The healing nature of what shutting off can do for your soul.
So I say Adios for now. Going dark and shutting down.
Oh…and I will be sure to LOOK UP.
