This whole thought came from a conversation I had with one of my sons in law when we were discussing the world and technology. The word “mindfulness” is used a lot these days when it comes to what we need, when we need it, how we express and converse, how we process it and how it helps our psyche. 

Or, to put it another way, just being alive and looking around, listening, feeling, loving, questioning, learning and on and on and on. Sitting peacefully, listening to the birds and our inner selves.

Enter the iPhone. Enter all of technology taking over our lives, advancing at the rate of a speed never known before. The mere convenience. The mere availability.

Would everyone put their phones down? Can everyone take a break from this item that consumes so much of our time, our emotions, our relationships, our creative selves? 

I might be overreacting here, but after reading and listening to so much societal issues of today, it has occurred to me that because of the smartphone, so much has been lost in human contact, personal connections, dreaming of dreams, physical contact, loving of one another, thoughtful conversations. It astounds the mind.

Back in the dark ages of my life, from beginning in the late 30s, we did sit around and talk. We looked out the windows of our cars. We did listen to others, we did share dreams, we loved and adored, there was always conversation. Why is the divorce rate so high today. Because people have lost the art of communication. Because young people (not all because that’s too broad a brush) struggle with knowing how to verbally express their ideas in real time. Whoops, have to check my phone. No. So often I hear from my own children and grandchildren that this is how their lives have been formed because the temptation, the false need, the fear of missing something instant is always there and really hard to avoid. 

However, thankfully, they all do converse and practice mindfulness often. Even in their busy lives.

Sure, technology is a gift for the advancement of so many wonderful things in our world. It saves lives in an instant. It reports news in an instant. It teaches all kinds of wonderful things. It exposes those who are not fortunate to be fully educated to learn, to wish for, to plan. It brings endless knowledge. 

What it does not do is promote the great human emotions to be expressed in all their forms, good or bad. It does not teach one to look inside oneself. To help people to really converse with words, not on a screen. 

It does not foster the real strength of expressing emotions and weighing their need to be expressed. 

Oh, to know how to express.

Oops, gotta go. It’s my phone beeping!

Susan Lamoreaux lives in Edgartown.