Karen Dilbeck told me to write this blog, about two weeks ago. Sorry Karen, but it is finally here.
Many people of the older generations like to stop and ponder what it might be like to grow up with complete internet access all the time, to always be connected and never feel the peace of solitude, the lack of pressure to present.
I, though not at the time, now consider myself fortunate to have grown up in the age of the internet yet without the access. I didn’t have internet access until the age of 7 and then at the age of 11 continued through High School without home access to the internet. At the time I felt left out of things; I now find that I wasn’t missing out on much, just a more fabricated world.
This is not an internet hate blog, more of just a recount of what I found out while being in Africa.
Africa, I refer to you more than twice a day now. Africa is where my squad became my family and my team became my people. I believe lack of Wifi was a big contributor to that transformation. Without a phone to connect to, we connected to each other. With no social media feeds to pour over, we poured into each other. We had fun movie nights and played capture the flag, had worship nights, 24-hour prayer, and squad talks.
I found life less busy and had time to process my emotions throughout the day and enjoy the small moments. Laundry became a relaxing task that may have taken up a third of my day, but it didn’t matter because there was nothing to rush to, no next thing to get done, there wasn’t a world I was connected to that pulled for my attention.
God did a deep healing in me during that time, and I didn’t have anything to distract, but was engaged in the process with him.
Being connected through the internet is like having tons of small strings attached to your mind pulling you in five directions so that you miss most things in life that you are physically present for, including diverting your attention from the simple question, “How are you?”
I encourage you today to stop and listen to yourself for a second. Are you anxious? Are you tired? Are you distracted? Are you lonely?
I find that we often cram our day full to block out the noise in our own lives. The internal voices asking us to stop for once and breath, to find rest, and connect with one another – and most importantly with God. Let yourself ask yourself, how are you?
