the phone…

The phone has become an extension of our arm. How many of us have asked out loud where is my phone? Did you feel the need to check Instagram? Or the next to answer a text immediately? Or the endless scroll to send us into a numb zone?

After COVID began to recede and we could actually see other human beings, I remember hanging out with another couple, whom we obviously kept at a distance. What was eye-opening was how long we hung out and talked. Even this past week, we were hanging out at my brother and sister-in-law’s house outside with no distractions, and before we knew it, hours had gone by. The need for human connection is real.

Call me crazy, but a few bright spots speak to people’s desire to put the phone down. There are more dinner parties, more intimate conferences, and more events where people show up repeatedly to meet new people. There is an underlying desire for human contact outside of the phone.

Being able to call someone when you are late, or a parent knowing their child is in touch, or perhaps shopping for something on the fly is a bonus, but when the phone and social media start to impede our lives, it is time to take those benefits and shelve the rest.

My gut is human nature will get us there.