There is nothing more beautiful then walking into your favorite place and seeing all of your favorite faces in the world. Community has forever brought us joy, and today I think we all got a taste of what heaven will be like. Hours spent creating art, telling stories, laughing, drinking coffee, learning personalities, and enjoying one another.
Galentines was a bigger hit then I ever dreamed it would be.
Leading up to this morning, I didn't have any plans for how we would spend our time at Cafe Eclectic with different ladies from completely different lives and backgrounds. I think the way we never wanted it to end only showed the craving we all have for this intentional time with each other. That face to face interaction that somehow has lost its value. Instead something else is pulling at us - Our drive for a constant state of multi-taking. Watching a movie isn't enough anymore, talking to one person isn't enough, driving a four wheeled machine isn't enough anymore, drawing isn't enough anymore, listening to music isn't enough, walking in silence isn't enough anymore. We have these boxes that we now simply pick up and turn on the second we feel unstimulated or not engaged. Endless scrolling. The second I feel uncomfortable my reaction is to not face the situation I'm in, but to pick up my phone and light it up.
For some crazy reason, I think it's more important to be talking to the person who is messaging me and the person who is commenting on my photo, then the person who has taken time out of their day and life to sit across from me at a coffee shop and be intentional! Are they not enough? Driving this week, I put my phone in the back seat to track how often I felt the impulse to pick it up. It was terrifying that driving only TEN miles at almost every red light my right hand reached out for my little box. Thank the Lord it wasn't there. How foolish to even dream that driving isn't enough stimulation. Who am I to put myself in a multi-tasking situation on the road? How on earth can I nor anyone else focus on what my right foot, two arms, and everyone else in huge machines around me are doing while taking in visual information on Instagram? WHILE the radio is playing heavy beats and techno voices. I mean, are we crazy?
I speak to myself as much as I speak out to you. This must stop. I, a media queen finding her data rates sky rocketing every month, ask myself. How did we get here? How did I get HERE?
How did our minds become so addicted to noise? It's like it happend so fast and sweet, we never noticed the terrifying reality of change. We fell in love. We fell in love with the exposure and constantly being informed. Is it so bad to want that? Like almost everything in our world, NO, not in moderation. But as our human nature takes control in every sense, we just went too far. I am genuinely horrified at how often my thumb is touching that screen. How antsy I get sitting in one place listening to one person. How uncomfortable I get in silence. How I squirm when trying to focus on one simple task. I am feeding an addiction by having this box never leave my side. I am enabling this obsession by not engaging when I feel unengaged.
The reason this morning was complete bliss; the reason we never wanted to leave; the reason our mind were refreshed, I believe, is because we were soaking in community. That face to face, the stimulation of voices we know, that movement of our hands as we created. Our minds churning and processing what was right before us. We weren't thinking about the article on facebook, the photo we saw on instagram, the trip our friend is on. No, in fact we were listening to one another. We were creating ART. We were there- in the moment. I was. And it never felt so good.
As someone who completely adores being informed. As someone who lives off aesthetic and sharing beauty. As someone who is inspired to wake up daily by stories that are told and have not yet been told. By someone whose room is cluttered with colors, prints, and words, I challenge myself to put my boxes away ever so often. To turn my phone OFF. To shut my computer down. To make the screen go black. To relish in a single conversation. To breathe in silence. To sing and hear my own voice. To take in one story at a time. To listen.
Today as I linger on each photo I took, I already miss this morning and want every moment back. I didn't need my phone because I was with everyone I wanted to be with. I didn't want my phone or my laptop open because I was surrounded by laughter and stories and love. It was enough. FINALLY. It was enough. And it shouldn't have taken me this much time to realize that. It shouldn't taken over 8 friends to make it enough. The noises around me were enough - like they should be! The sound of coffee being brewed and milked being steamed. The light beats of a playlist playing above. The scribbles being made around the table, the murmurs of conversations around us, and finally the actual voices at our own table sharing and laughing. Good gracious- I hope that was enough for my brain to feel engaged!
I don't think Instagram is bad, I don't think photos are bad, or music, or really PHONES! But in moderation, let us relish those blessings.
As valentines comes around the corner, can we all just love who we have before us. Who else needs you? Put down the boxes, in fact, maybe you can even turn them off. Make eye contact, listen to that voice, make them laugh, enjoy your food, and reach out to hold that person's hand. They need you to engage; and you need you to engage. Galentines was beautiful and want that joy to be experienced by everyone.
