Today's world is one in which I can write my thoughts on this website, post them on the internet and within five minutes, someone in China could be reading everything I have to say. I could take a selfie, post it to Facebook and within 30 seconds, somebody in California could be clicking "like".

But if we are so connected through our devices, social media, and the internet, why are we more disconnected than ever?

We live in a world where dating is a swipe right and self-worth is based on your number of Instagram followers. We have been made to believe that if you don't have this bustling social life and great eyebrows, you're inferior in some way.

So how did we get here?

I guess it's easy to say the common answer: society. But what does that even mean? We are society, each and every one of us. So are we blaming ourselves? We should be, because if society is the problem then all our finger pointing should be directly into a mirror.

Now I'm not here to shame phones and the internet or even social media. I love my Candy Crush and Snapchat filters just as much as the next person. However, I recently spent a week without a phone due to some technical difficulties, and living on a college campus, looking up from my phone screen and removing headphones as I walked to and from class made me realize something startling:

In 20 years, there will be a new medical terminology plaguing millions across the world known as "texter's neck". Chiropractors and orthopedic surgeons will have a field day.

You laugh, but I'm serious. All around me, there were people with their neck at a painful looking 90 degree angle from their body, furiously typing into their phones. I watched people Snapchatting in public, though hilarious to me spectating, paying no attention to what was going on around them. I saw two people eating at the same table, both with their noses in their phones, neither saying a word for twenty minutes.

If technology has been revolutionary in the fact that it's facilitated connection with those halfway across the world, or makes it easy to keep in touch with family and friends, how have we distanced ourselves so far from those that are in front of us? Sure, having a VSCO account with the most artistic pictures, and a Pinterest board with the best DIY boards might seem cool, but sometimes life is meant to be lived rather than viewed. We're so obsessed with sharing everything that we're doing on the internet. We do our best to portray ourselves as these always happy, carefree people that never have bad days. We're lying to ourselves.

Albert Einstein said once "It’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity." Now he was referring to the atom bomb when he made that statement in the forties, but the trend remains the same.

Once in a while, we should put down the phone and look at the world around us. Start taking it in before posting it. Start looking for your favorite experiences instead of finding experiences to be favorited. Go have adventures and get your shoes dirty and maybe even your hands too, without worrying about your phone getting wet or if your Twitter feed is dead.

Life is meant to be lived, and not "liked".