The other day I was on the bus, on my way back from work.
I’m fairly new, so I more than likely looked drained and exhausted following 6
or so hours of having had waves of information crashing against me – my brain a
dehydrated, partly eroded rock. Suffice to say, in my mind at least, it had not
been a good day. From what I’ve gathered from my shifts so far, the way the
workday pans out is wholly unpredictable. Sure, nothing catastrophically ‘bad’
had happened, but my mind, at times, tends to exacerbate the negative. Not
always, but sometimes – and this was indeed one of those times. I forget
precisely what it was that had me so worked up, but I certainly wasn’t in the
best of moods. That was until a delightful elderly woman sat beside me, and I
struck up something of a rapport with her. We talked about what you’d probably
regard as being the most mundane conversation, about work, her dog, my
university life, tuition fees, etc. Such topics I would ordinarily avoid after
a long day, but in this instance it was strangely therapeutic; cathartic, even.
All of a sudden I was inexplicably perky again. It just goes to show how
profound an effect interpersonal connectivity can have on your esteem. And it
beats social networking hands down.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m as impressed by and absorbed in
technology as much as the next person. I’m frequently on my phone, and browse
and communicate via social media fairly regularly. Perhaps not as much as most
other people, but I’ll admit to having something of a compulsion to check for
updates throughout the day, courtesy of people I haven’t spoken to in over a
decade. And it is, to an extent, a good thing. We are in the process of
broaching the threshold of a new Digital Age, a process that involves merging
our consciences with that of a machine that permits us greater prospects for
communication, and a better future in terms of connectivity. At least, that’s
what it reads like on paper. It’s certainly nothing radical to argue anything
to the contrary, but I have to admit I have my reservations. As our online
avatars and technological developments such as Virtual Reality continue to
develop and proliferate, so too does our fascination with it – and our interest
in reality is subsumed, at the very least momentarily. Of course, this
fascination is somewhat ironic, in that we’re collectively more invested in
virtual representations of reality than in the real thing. As I’ve already
said, technology is a wonderful thing, but one’s investment in it can be, I
believe, in some form detrimental to wellbeing (and yes, I’m aware of the irony
that you’re currently reading this on the internet).
Speaking from experience, hiding myself away behind a
monitor in a nest of cables seemed like a good idea at the time. I owe many of
my teen years to blanketing myself in social media. But ultimately all it did
was reinforce my detachment from society. It wasn’t the primary cause of my
anxiety by any means, but it didn’t help. It may indeed sound cliché but
sometimes physically talking can rekindle some of those burnt-out embers. Talking
is easier than you think, and a hell of a lot more meaningful in terms of
connectivity than the worldwide web. Some may argue against this, but
personally I don’t think anything can ever compare to the intrinsic power of
human contact. And sometimes the conversation doesn’t even need to be all that
thought-provoking or unique. In short, there’s nothing more life-affirming than
a friendly face.
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