Heed my words, human!
Why do you stare at me all day, even when you don’t need to? Why do you eat in front of me, reading what you don’t even need to know? Why do you live to stare at me? Is this what you call leisure? Or do you suffer from FOMO? What you are missing out on is that wonderful world out there by looking at me.
Staring at me all the time messes with your mental and physical health. You already know that, don’t you? My world might seem colorful, but it isn’t. It makes the real world—the one that matters—go dark. In fact, it is not a even real world. It is just something you humans created. It sucks you into a make-believe space, whittling away at your real world and your chance of living a full life. Use me for what you need to but no more. Then leave me alone. Go sleep on time. You need that more than ever.
But what does one do without staring at me, you ask? For starters, get up off your chair and look away from me. Yes, stand up. Humans were meant to stand and walk and run, not sit hunched like apes over a machine for hours on end. Are you standing up now? Good! Don’t stand there still staring at me! Go! Move!
“The difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware that they are not free.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Where to, you ask? Away from me! Stare at a picture on the wall, outside the window, at the ground, at a book—anything else but me. There are many places to go to if you would only take the time to walk there instead of sitting in front of me. You might start by checking out a room or corner of your house that you don’t use much. Or bend down and look under the bed. Ouch! Ages since you even tried bending down, right? You never know what you’ll find under a bed, believe me.
Smile at a stranger, give your coffee money to a homeless person and survive without caffeine for a day or listen to someone without talking about similar situations in our life. Or why don’t seek out a flower – a real, living one – instead of staring at pictures of them on me? You might find quite a few, even in winter, if you look close enough. Go hike a hill or mountain closest to you, breathing in the fresh, cold air. Look at the sky and marvel in its vastness, sit still and listen to yourself, feel light… and allow yourself to cry at the loveliness of it all.
“ There are few times that I feel more at peace, more in tune, more Zen, if you will, than when I force myself to unplug. ” – Harlan Coben
How long has it been since you exposed your body to the elements anyway? Instead of staying inside your box and meandering aimlessly through the internet , why don’t you step out? Scared of the cold? Go out and feel cold anyway. Shiver. Feel breathless. Walk faster until you feel warmer, your breath coming out in puffs of smoke. Walk until you understand that there is a lot more to do and enjoy, away from the prison of my artificial world. Go enjoy the street, the air, the trees… Go enjoy your life as it is meant to be experienced. Go!