Mystic Mantra: In order to connect, we need to disconnect

A sight, an emotion creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it. ~ Virginia Woolf

We groan if our phone buzzes when we’re out to lunch with a friend. We complain that we’re fired with status updates and selfies. We are saturated with technology, yet we continue to invite it to the dinner table. We roll our eyes when catchy Internet headlines are zoomed on us. Then we stare at our iPads while our parents tell us of their day at office or home.

We wax nostalgic for a time of how serene life was without smarphones, yet when we climb into bed at night, it’s our mobile devices we hold instead of our prayer beads.

Why can’t we disconnect?

We have become so accustomed to instant communication and information, that we’re paranoid and fear we’ll miss out on something if we put our phones down even for a few minutes. We’ve become a cybersociety where virtually everything is a click away. We are exposed to more information now than ever before. But we must learn to disconnect in order to get connected.

We all need to connect to the online world to remain tuned to the world outside. But we shouldn’t let technology eat up every free second we have in the day! We don’t need to drop everything allow gadgets t o intrude into our precious private space Let us put an end to this crazy bustle, and carve out technology-free moments for yourself and others. Take time with your next conversation. Take time to be present in the moment. Take time to go for a walk to savour the blooming countryside. Those who fail to heed this tested lesson will be left with a harvest of regrets in the autumn of their lives.

We must learn to keep reading, keep listening, and to be patient so that we fully understand what we see and hear, and are armed with more than a sound bite, or a tweet.  We must have the patience to do more than look at the world, and to see it with our senses and mind awake. Look at the humble serenity of a flower, the vibrant rainbow of colours of a butterfly. Spare them some moments of silent thought. It will renew and refresh your mind and recharge you so that you can connect with the world with greater verve.

When our mobile devices become woven into the texture of our lives, they become almost an extension of our persona, and we can’t   commit to the moment we are in.  When we look back we realize that we have missed the colour of life, the music of its every pulse. We all know that life is not just physical existence but it has a soul and if we starve it of the beauty around, we make it wither away.

When we’re speeding along, we violate our own natural rhythms in a way that prevents us from listening to our inner life and being in a resonant field with others. We get tight. We get small. We override our capacity to appreciate beauty, to celebrate, to serve from the heart.

You can re-watch a funny video a hundred times — later tonight, later this month or later this year.  But you won’t always have the chance to sit with a friend and have a face-to-face conversation. You won’t always have the chance to hear someone laugh as they chat with you.