This Morning 2/18/13 When the Past Passes: The Evolution of Handholding

For those who can't sleep, the middle of the night used to be prime time to experience boredom.  It is the quietest part of this 24/7 world we no longer think of as "extraordinary."  There was a time when referring to New York City as "the town that never sleeps" had a romantic and awe-inspiring quality about it.  Not so, anymore.  Everywhere is "the town that never sleeps" ever since the internet, 24-hour cable, and smartphones have come to infiltrate rural America and really, rural Earth!

My 23-year old son was showing me his I-Phone the other day, extolling its virtues.  He has a "whip-cracking" app that sounds just like the kind in old western movies.  He just moves his I-Phone left and right with a flick of his wrist and, "crack!" sounds reverberate,  adjusting dynamically depending on the force with which you flick the wrist.   "Woah!," I said, not realizing the double entendre.

After a few more minutes of his unrehearsed, but remarkably effective, defense of why the I-Phone is the greatest tool known to humankind, he announced as an afterthought, "I'm never bored."

This hit me like a ton of bricks (to use a very antiquated cliche).  I thought, "he's never bored" and that is the reason why everybody is plugged in.

We think we are bored if we are quiet.  Perhaps we think we are boring if we are quiet and unengaged in technology.  Technology has become as much an extension of our minds and hands as our significant others used to be.   Think about it.  If we were obligated to hold hands with our loved ones as much as we hold hands with our cellphones, would we still feel as affectionately drawn to them?  Or, would we feel somewhat held back by the constant contact?

Perhaps we can't let go of our devices because we are afraid to be alone.  As long as we have technology, we are never far from our networks.  We can always check our email or news feeds or even just play with an app.  What we can't do with our devices is feel the sense of belonging that holding the hand of another insures.

Our devices have replaced our human counterparts, and we are allowing it so that we don't have to feel bored or lonely.  When we lie there in the middle of the night, the past flashing inside our minds, our feelings coming to the surface, it's okay to breathe, to remember, and to know that our aloneness reminds us it is time to reach out to another person, not an I-Phone.