Connected or Disconnected?

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Today, the world is more connected than ever before. At the same time, divisiveness, mistrust, and loneliness seem to be increasing at alarming rates, affecting all areas of our lives. The problem is not that people lack the means to connect. There’s a Smartphone or tablet in almost everyone’s pocket or hand. From the “seasoned” senior citizen to a small child in a stroller. Both of those ends of the generational spectrum astound me. The seniors that face the fear of technology that is coming at us all at a fast and furious pace and the small children that seem to be placed more often in front of a tablet or phone and not interacting with others or just old fashionecrayons and paper for that matter. High-speed communication networks abound, now even while sailing across the ocean and flying through the sky. The problem is not with the availability or even affordability of connections. The problem is in the quality of those connections.

In our super connected world, connections have become trivialized.

Connections are used to conduct discrete transactions rather than to develop ongoing relationships. Online shopping, have all but eliminated malls, Main Street shopping and small merchants. Optimizing the transaction for the cheapest price has become more important than nurturing the relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to compare and contrast prices online, as well as have instant gratification to have something shipped to me in twenty four hours, but nothing replaces a great shopping day where you can actually touch or try on or taste something before you purchase it. While we have become more functionally connected through technology, we feel less connected on a human level. We connect over much longer distances, and over much, much shorter durations. Emails and texts have all but replaced phone conversations or meeting in person for coffee.

The concept of real connection is in danger of being coorupted. We try in vain to replace a single enduring connection with a thoughsand brief, fleeting connections. And try as we might, it is not the same. There’s value to enduring connection that cannot be experienced in any other way. A hundred likes, shares, or comments about an artivle on Facebook or Instagram, whle nice, do not adequately replace the wise commentary of a trusted friend. Now instead of seeking recommendations from trusted friends, we search online for ratings and reviews from people we’re not even sure are real.

We know that life can be difficult, and much more often than not, those difficulties seen to be best addressed by joining together in cooperation and understanding with the people around us. With that in mind, the question becomes this: How do we avoid further DISCONNECTION and how do we REPAIR, RE-ENERGIZE and EXPAND on the quality connections that bring so much positive value to life?

A good first step is gratitude. It is good to be reminded on a regular basis of the value of quality connections. Not just in our connections to other people, but also to our connections to things such as our work, our faith, to nature, to our values and hopefulness. It’s easy to become complacent about the good things in life, to take them for granted.

Like all good and valuable aspects of life, quality connections are not FREE. The do require work. They require commitment and sacrifice. You can’t develop a meaningful connection with someone by simply including that person in an email blast every week or sending an occasional text. To forge a valuable connection, you have to offer something of real value. You have to give of yourself and your time.

The same dynamic applies to other forms fo connection. To connect meaningfully with your values, you must consistently live those values. Lip service is never enough; it must always be accompanied by action and attention.

As you do give more and more of yourself, the magic of quality connection begins to happen. As you invest your time in your relationships, in your appreciation of nature, in our hopefulness, in your spiritual faith, their collective value grows deeper. By giving yourself to these connections, you enhance the quality of the connections. Instead of conducting mere transactions, you are extending a part of yourself into the lives of the people with who you share those connections.

I believe the quality of your life comes in large part from the quality of your connections. Be thankful for those connections. Be generous with those connections. Be willing to work and learn and improve upon those connections, to deepen them, to pour more meaning, substance, time, resources and caring into them. Choose to be an advocate of higher quality connections, leading others by example with your love, respect, tolerance, joy and generosity.

The light in me, honors the light in you.

Namaste,

Kimberly

As always you can reach out to me at

Kimberly@DivineMoxie.com