Do you have fights with your spouse or your children about them being on their smartphones too much? About their time being consumed with gaming and texting and staying connected to everybody else but you?
Are you so consumed with getting work done at work, addressing work issues after work hours (thanks to your “Crackberry” or other smartphone device delivering email to you real-time, no matter what time) that you find yourself often saying “hold on, honey. I have to take care of this first”?
Do you put off conversations about household matters because you are watching a TV show?
Do you spend so much time producing content for other people (writing, blogging, facebook status updating, “checking-in” to places you are eating, drinking or socializing with other people like your partner) that you sometimes forget to be in the moment with the people that care about you?
Do you play words with friends when you are around your friends?
Do you prioritize reading when you are not working? Before going to bed? Do you prioritize checking in with your partner (if you have one) before checking in with your next chapter?
Chances are if you are spending your time reading a blog right now, you may be one of those folks who over-indexes on time spent with various forms of communication technology…potentially spilling over into the time you spend with the humans who are the most important to you and also most present in your habitat.
I know I am guilty of many of the above. In trying to get my daily blog written before my wife woke up this morning and then getting frustrated when she was up and about before I anticipated it and getting immediately resentful of her “demanding” my attention, I caused an immediate response that forced some serious communication. And I realized something: communication technology is actually blocking my ability to communicate with the most important human in my life.
That’s some shit right there.
And this narcissistic anthropologist knows she’s not alone in this one. So, the blog about my wife’s High School Reunion can wait until tomorrow and in the meantime i write this apology to her instead.
And I suppose I will need to do a better job of examining my communication priorities. Starting with hitting “publish”, putting my iphone away, and spending some quiet time (or communication time) with my favorite human.
Related articles
- The Art of Conversation…Lost? (abriellev.wordpress.com)
Ah . . . great post. Wow. This is something I’ve long planned to write on . .. you beat me to it