Switching on by switching off

In our rush to leap headlong into being entertained every waking minute by the wonders of technology, and our impatience to have our every want satisfied immediately, it seems to be that the hard learned lessons of past generations are being lost.

It isn’t looked on as a good thing to be thrifty, to wait for things that are worthwhile, to make long term decisions and invest in our future selves and our children and grandchildren. These are things that are looked down on whereas once were values worth maintaining. The majority of the population these days seems intent to spend all that they have as soon as they have it, disregard the old wisdom, and then bemoan their fate when things appear unattainable or out of reach.

If failing to plan is indeed planning to fail, then there are many members of society out there who have very little hope of success (in whatever field, or howsoever success is so defined by them).

Of course, planning takes time, and time seems to be what so many people claim to be short of these days. A claim made while wiling away the endless hours that are spent in front of screens of various sorts, televisions, computers, phones, where time slips by without notice, and minutes turn to hours, and reality is circumvented by the imagined. Where time could be spent for even a few moments planning for the future (even the near future of tomorrow or next week), the claim of boredom takes hold and the panacea of “entertainment”, being but a swipe or click away, is substituted instead. Never before has the ability to switch off by switching on been so readily in reach.

But what of switching on by switching off? Would the time poor be better served by consciously switching off and moving on from the endless cycle of screen time? I think so. It goes without saying.

I catch a bus to and from work most days. I am constantly bemused by the number of people with their heads down, headphones in, staring at little screens that are in turn pumping pointless bullshit into their brains.  Life passes them by outside the bus, they don’t notice. Reality for them is right there on the screen. It is surreal.

I sometimes wonder if that is partly the cause of the disconnect between people and the natural world that sustains us. Why think about what goes on ‘out there’ outside the scope of social media, infotainment and consumerism, when you are convinced all you need to know is there on your little screen. Focussing all their attention on that blocks reality. Food comes from a supermarket, power from a switch, water from a tap. Looking at a screen so intently, unconsciously searching for something specific to make meaning, simply means that they don’t actually see anything at all.

The world is an amazing place. Switch off, even for a moment, and switch yourself back on.