Get out of Your Head
It is now entirely possible to live a life without experiencing one authentic moment. A life abstracted from reality, living vicariously through other characters, ideas and forms.
This isn’t just a product of our generation. It has been inculcated into us through half a century of commercial television being central to family life. Social media and mobile phones are just a new means toward the same end.
But the fact remains: easily accessible, unlimited media can whisk us away from reality in seconds and transport us somewhere else. When we live life online, we lose the sharp urge to fix ourselves and orient our lives toward meaning.
Our use of media is an extension of our trajectory in this existence. When we internally desire escape, we find ourselves depending more and more on media that both transports us and forgives us for ignoring our personal challenges. We end up ‘living’ more in day dreams than in the day-to-day.
Social media and phones need not be our enemy. But this requires a serious and focused effort. The types of media we consume must elevate us and inform us. They must not divorce us from our reality. Attention must be paid to who we follow, what symbols we give our attention to and the time we devote toward such media. We must ask ourselves whether we feel media gives us value or makes us feel worse.
All of life is a spiral toward something else. When we are intentional about what direction we take, our lives are granted intangible and powerful qualities.
