Friday, October 28, 2022
There is an invisible realm. The essence of aliveness is hidden, covered up by the ego or lost in the virtual exchanges of modern life. Physical structure and your personality are characteristics that help you distinguish one from another. The trick is to then see beyond that, but the only way to do that is with one-on-one interaction in real time and space. Technology often takes away the restorative nature of togetherness.
Technology has made being separate too convenient. And in many ways, togetherness is inconvenient. But that’s the beauty of it. Encapsulating yourself in a virtual world takes the variables out of the real world. A virtual interaction whitewashes the invisible aliveness sensed in real time. Physicality is very colorful and diverse, and we have to experience what that feels like by being together in real time and space. At first, people seem different, but to see beyond those differences takes spending time with them in physicality. Virtual exchanges strip us of the restorative power of real bonding that transcends difference.
Physicality is what allows us to be more humane. Being humane is easier in proximity. Distance makes us inhumane. That’s because being online lowers your inhibition, like drugs and alcohol. But looking into the eyes of another is sobering. To give people a chance, you have to share time and space with them. Behind a computer screen, anonymity breeds inhumane acts and words. It’s much harder to be cruel when you’re looking squarely into the eyes of another, but it’s the only thing that will restore humanity. It’s time to restore connection, to bring back shared space and time, so we can access the healing power of humanity’s invisible side.