During my friend’s Christmas stay at my partner’s and my home this year, we experienced a major power outage for a few hours. While it really wasn’t that big of a deal and not much of an inconvenience for any of us, we did utilize that time in a way that I find is often forgotten about for far too many of us nowadays.
So how did we spend that time? We played a board game by candlelight.
Aside from the candlelight part, in this technological age, sitting around a table and doing something like this with friends and family seems to be happening less and less. Instead, people tend to be burying themselves more and more in their smart phones and IPads on most days. Because of this, conversations and deeper heart-felt connections are totally suffering. But when I was growing up this wasn’t the case.
There were no smart phones or IPads to stare at constantly and neither was the capability then to text or tweet or check out something on the web during any moment of the day. Meals were usually for talking about things going on in each of our lives and time was also regularly set aside to play games, go take walks, and spend more time engaging in real communication with each other.
I must admit that I too have gotten swept up in all the technological advancements these days, as there have been plenty of times I’ve found myself doing something on my Iphone instead of engaging in what was going on around me. That’s why I truly enjoyed the power going out for those few hours during my friend’s Christmas stay, because in those moments, we all decided to put our technology away and instead occupy the time doing something that was far more connecting.
In all honesty, I really do miss those simpler days, when people seemed to be much more interested in participating in life with each other instead of in something digital. Thankfully though, I’ve been making more of an effort lately to take time on a regular basis to connect with those around me, so it was only a bonus to use the power outage to do that a little more.
But sadly, I’m sure that during the same power outage for plenty of others, those smart phones were still being utilized with people remaining oblivious to life around them. Can you imagine what would happen for all of us if somehow every bit of electricity and cellular technology went down all at once? What would people do with their time? I’m sure most would shudder at the thought. Not me though, as I think our world would feel a lot less lonely.
Nevertheless, I was glad for the temporary power outage, as it brought me back to many of my happiest moments from my past when life was far less technologically advanced, when things were definitely more simple, and when people really wanted to get to know each other a lot better. Hopefully this trend will somehow reverse itself in the future, but in the meantime, I’m going to make sure I continue to set time aside to connect with those around me on a much deeper level, as I know it truly does help my life feel far less lonely.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson