Observing Society

Today, I took a moment to sit and observe the world around me, and what I saw hit me harder than I expected. Everyone was on their phones. Eyes down. Faces blank. Entire families are sitting together, yet they are completely disconnected. It was like watching people exist in separate universes while standing inches apart. We’ve become so sucked into our screens that we’re missing the life happening right in front of us. The laughter of our kids. The way the sun feels on our skin. The power of actual conversation. We scroll and scroll, hoping to feel something — but maybe what we need is to look up.

It’s so different from how I grew up in the ’90s. Back then, connection didn’t come from Wi-Fi — it came from riding bikes until the streetlights came on, knocking on your friend’s door to see if they could come outside, or staying up late talking on the house phone with a tangled cord wrapped around your fingers. We didn’t have instant access to everyone, but somehow, we felt closer. Life was slower, fuller, and more present. We weren’t distracted by constant notifications or curated highlight reels — we were just living, messy, and real.

Now, I look around, and it feels like we’re losing that. Losing the art of being bored. The joy of showing up unannounced. The beauty of looking someone in the eye and giving them your full attention. I miss the simplicity of it all. And while I love that technology can connect us, I sometimes wonder if it’s also what’s pulling us further apart.