Do yourself a favor, put down the phone, and turn off the laptop. Don’t check that twitter notification, stop reading that article about Trump, and log out of facebook. Give yourself a minute or two to realize that there's more to acknowledge than “Salt Bae” memes and Beyonce's pregnancy announcement.
Don’t surround yourself only with the content you read on the five-inch screen of your phone, stop living through media. Take a quick second and look around you, acknowledge your setting.
Lift your eyes from your phone and realize that there is more in the world than the havoc you are constantly reminded about online. It’s funny that we feel we must keep up with the media to know what’s going on around us, when in reality, we don’t know what's going on around us because we are too caught up in the media.
As I sit and write this article downtown in a coffee shop I see only two people without an electronic at their reach, and those are the baristas. The world has so much to offer and show if only you look up from your laptop.
Just by lifting my head from my writing, I can see the snow fall and settle upon the tree branches. I notice the beautiful string of bright lights that hang from the brick building across the street. I spot a cupcake shop that I never knew existed. I receive smiles from those outside who pass by the coffee shop. I take in the smell of freshly brewed espresso, and the catchy coffee shop music. I watch as the couple across the shop converse and laugh without acknowledging anyone else.
As we sit and bury our heads in our phones, life continues to pass us by. We tend to miss the little moments that life offers because we’re too busy scrolling down our facebook feed.
Life presents us with so many beautiful moments, yet we feel the need to capture them on our phone rather than to live them out. It's in our generations nature to post our lives on Instagram for others to see. All the while we are missing the true essence of that moment just to snap a picture for show. Is missing out on life's little moments really worth the likes?
There is nothing wrong with keeping up with time. It’s okay to post memes and watch Kylie Jenner’s entire snap story; however, the unconscious desire to is not acceptable. Social media has never been a need, but we are making it one. So, do yourself a favor and put down the phone, close the laptop and live a little. Take in all of life's offerings as they come, so you don't have to depend on your media accounts to show you how “Instagram-worthy” your life actually is.
