Being a regular mobile phone user, along with being in a relationship I understand the stress and strains that a mobile phone can bring. As I sit in a coffee shop in South West London writing an article about how our culture and relationship behaviors have changed dramatically over the past 10 years, I can’t help but look around at the couples sat nearby staring into the screen of their mobile phones, as if they are mesmerized by a virtual world that’s right in front of them.
I am sipping on my black Americano at peace with the thought that I am not completely consumed by my mobile phone and what’s on it. I have made a conscious effort to do so as I feel my self-becoming annoyed at the reality of the world that we live in today and its techno obsession. People are slaves to a device that has caused more damage to their wellbeing than they may know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely naïve, I know that technology has its good points too, but I don’t feel we should rely on it as heavily as so many do.
We now somehow feel we have the right to ignore those nearest to us as its “socially acceptable” to do so. We have created an anxious mind set amongst the conversations that we lead, the social circles we surround ourselves with, the judgmental net that so many people cast their lives and ideas from, acting as an idealistic world. The people that feel the need to do this are the most unfulfilled in life, unless they are doing this for a good cause.
The vacuous nature of social media and the issues it created between relationships has made me question if it’s all worth it?
I have adopted a slightly different view and attitude towards the mobile phone frenzy culture that we are faced with daily. Aren’t lives busy and stressful enough without having to worry about responding to a million whims at the sound of a beep. How did we end up in such an ignorant society? I guess I ask myself this question when my phone or my partners phone is flashing at midnight by the side of the bed, would I speak with these people this late at night over a phone conversation, or in real life, what gives them the right to expect me to response at all hours in the night along with my partner? Surely this time is special and sacred to share with one another and not to be interrupted by unimportant messages to one another. There are so many sources of communication it makes it impossible to just be and switch off from it all.
Are we putting the mobile phone and the people on it that contact us on a pedestal over what’s important along with living in the moment? What happened to capturing the moment and storing it in our actual memories to chat about later?
I feel sad when I look around and conversation is replaced with a screen and a virtual conversation. Our minds are being fueled with too much nonsense that isn’t relevant. What if we looked back 10 years where we switched off, listened and observed the here and now. I think we would experience a much less anxious society with a healthier balance in our lives and relationships. Who’s up for the challenge?
Written by Rachel Bambrough