The Loss of Truth
Beliefs can be a side hustle
Pushed aside for lesser things
In the pursuit of that which lives outside ourselves
We continue to lie
We post about it
We talk about it
We hide behind the familiar stories
We chase, we scramble, we anoint
Giving the things meaning
Becoming our truths
These fables we tell
To ourselves and others
Held in our bodies
Release is needed
In innocence we deny ourselves
That which would serve us best
For it is in conscious choices
Where brilliance lays
We are more
The challenge is the change
But in that lives the epitome of hope
I think a lot about social media and the affect that it has on people, which is what inspired this poem. How losing ourselves to the apps on our phones can facilitate a loss in our own truths.
I know that the way I feel when I am on it is not a good thing. Sure I can find something quick and interesting, or an event I want to go to or something like that. But then I scroll...I move my thumb from the bottom of my screen to the top and go unconscious.
This is rare for me now, but it still happens. I still end up down the "scroll hole" as I call it and I will tell you that every single time it happens I feel worse than when I started.
I get a headache
I feel disconnected
My eyes hurt
and on a deeper level:
I feel disappointed in myself
I feel like I am missing something in my life
I feel like I am not doing it right, because I am not like the posts I am seeing
And I consider myself a conscious human being. But then I think about my 13year old step daughter, who has a deep addiction to her iphone. Her cognitive functions are still so young and developing, so what is this doing to her?
Research shows that it is not good, what is happening neurologically in her brain does not support what she needs to build within herself. Youth need to get bored, they need the downtime, to process their huge influx of emotions and then get creative in that boredom.
It makes me sad when I see groups of youths, sitting together all staring at a screen. Or when I see a couple at a table, looking like they are on a date (maybe?) but both with their phones out and not engaging with each other at all.
My hope is that we, as a society, move past this. We move into connection again, into human interaction and learn to be around each other again.
Re-learn how to hold eye contact
Re-learn how to embrace a new friend
Re-learn how to laugh at ourselves
Re-learn what it means to show up for other people
It will be through connection that we can move forward. A deeper connection to self, to others and to something greater.
With love,
Emily
