While walking through campus the other day, a friend brought to my knowledge the lack of attention I have given the world around me. As I answered yet another text and continued to scroll through my Twitter feed, he rambled on about God knows what, his words going in one ear and out the other.

It wasn’t until he pointed out a unique twisted tree, one that I pass everyday but had never noticed before, that I realized I have truly neglected the beauty surrounding me. “Look up every once in a while,” he said, with his phone nowhere in sight. It was in that moment that I realized how much of my life I have spent staring at a screen rather than enjoying what’s right in front of my very eyes.

You see it happen everywhere. Whether someone is recording their favorite song at a concert, taking pictures of beautiful landscape on vacation, or texting while simply walking around outside; as humans in the twentieth century, we tend to experience life behind a screen at all times. Enjoy the song, notice each detail of your view, have a true face to face conversation with those around you; I promise you it’s worth it.

Like any millennial, I am a hypocrite when it comes to this subject. Unfortunately, feeling “naked” without your phone is what our reality has come to. As a society, we are so wrapped up in the technology world that our day seems almost wrong without it. We have become immune to this wired life that we forget to appreciate everything that was around before any electronics were even created, like the simplicity of a tree.

Now I know what you’re thinking, you hear this all the time. Whether it’s your dad nagging you to get off of your phone at the dinner table, or your friends trying to converse with you while your eyes are glued to the screen, this topic may be common for you. Promise me, the next time someone says something about it, stop and think for a second. When was the last time you truly “logged out” of the digital world and embraced the world around you?

Experiencing life through your own two eyes is far more memorable than through a screen.

Log out and look up; you never know what you may find.