Sunday, October 09, 2011

Beyond the status update: Are we really happy?

How often do you see your friends post how great things are in their life? About how awesome their bf/gf/spouse/significant other is to them, the cute thing their kid just did or how great their co-workers are?
How often do we see happy little pictures posted of sweet moments, kind gestures, and fun times posted?

How often do you do this yourself?

For me, its ALL THE TIME!

I would hazard a guess, and pretty much guarantee that for every positive status update there are 20 more that are less than wonderful.

And here's the thing... If we are only communicating through facebook, email, instance message, and text, we miss what's really going on in the lives of people we care about. You can't decipher meaning behind words with no voice to match the tone to. And that can be detrimental. The strength of the relationship will likely weaken with these impersonal forms of communication; and while our "friends list" may keep growing online, it could quite possibly be decreasing in life.

So my plan...for every person I contact frequently by these impersonal means, I'm going to start replacing one text or whatever with a phone call or a visit to them. I'm starting small, because I've depended on the other forms for so long that it'll be difficult. But I think it is important to get back to the basics, hear a voice, see a face, and share a meal. I want to truely know what is going on in peoples lives...not just what they plaster to paint a better picture.

Will you join me and do the same?

What are some ways that YOU can get back to the personal side of communication?

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Great point. I get sick of the phoniness all the time. However, I am Thanks for the reminder of the importance of our real relationships with real interactions!