It’s another day at UK. You’re walking across campus, trying to make it to class, making sure your music isn’t too loud to disturb anyone nearby. But with every step you take, you notice your classmates and peers have turned into real life cyborgs.
Suddenly, all you see are faces looking down, not at the flowers sprouting in between the pavement cracks or paying close attention at the beat their footsteps produce.
Instead, everyone’s on their phone, doom scrolling. This is what it feels like to be part of a generation that neglects admiration and curiosity.
As a student, I’ve experienced this dystopic reality many times before. Everyone seems to be engaged with some sort of technological device that obstructs their connection with the natural world around them.
Whether it’s liking random Instagram posts on the fly or texting a friend, people seem to multitask to an extremist extent. One that prevents unpredictability from making an appearance.
Constantly being on our phones is turning away from an environment that welcomes attention. That’s exactly what’s ruining our connectivity with the world around us.
People seem to forget that surprising oneself is one of the greatest gifts there are. Allowing yourself to embark on an unexpected journey down a familiar trail, such as walking campus with absolutely no music playing, can change the way you view the mundane.
From what I’ve seen in recent years, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have developed a real struggle to focus on a given activity. Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok deliver content that has accustomed us to receiving material in a short-form delivery.
Because of this, we seem to crave instant gratification. We don’t want to earn rewards anymore. We’ve simply forgotten how to wait.
We complain about waiting in line and freak out when advertisements run for longer than 30 seconds. In reality, life has always moved at the same pace. We’ve dismissed detailed perception altogether.
The modernization of the world is ever-changing, of course, which makes life in general feel like it’s slipping away. But maybe the issue lies in how actively we engage with life itself.
What does it mean to be alive? Going to work and seeing your family are acts that validate your existence, but what does it mean to live, really live?
What I’ve found out is a great way to experience life is paying attention to everything you can. Noticing is a dying art. Not many people choose to brave the wave of technology and go on a silent walk or hum a song to themselves as they spot squirrels.
As a kid, I loved playing games that involved counting cars given a certain color or watching the sun rays wash away with the coming of night.
This issue of not addressing the unfamiliarity that surrounds us is a pattern present in spheres outside of college. People in corporate jobs seem to always take phone calls on the go and meal times with loved ones can sometimes turn into pitiable screen time.
When it comes to a fast-paced lifestyle, I think about places like New York and Los Angeles, where life seems to never give anyone a break. In consequence of this, their streets are flooded with hundreds of people barely interacting with one another or the visual stimuli encompassing the setting they find themselves in.
Perhaps the solution to this grander problem we face as a society is simpler than it seems; to accept the unexpected, the doubt that can be found deeply buried within us all.
Some of us seem to be scared of not curating our lives exactly how we think they’re supposed to play out. Maybe if we relented some control and allowed genuine curiosity to settle in, life would surprise us in hundreds of ways.
One of the recent Wellness trends on TikTok has become the practice of going on a color walk. This is an active decision to walk any given area with the goal to spot the color of your choice.
Its intent is to transition from the busy multitasking occurring in your brain to a task that requires minimal, but mindful engagement.
Personally, I believe this can be a great way for anyone who wants to challenge themselves to become a vital participant of the world around them. Mindful walks can be as easy as walking your dog with no music on or letting the breeze soundtrack your morning jog.
Remember you have a say in how your day unfolds. Question things, don’t be afraid to not have an immediate response.
Be curious, dare to be clueless and while you’re at it, pay attention to anything and everything. There’s beauty in pausing, in slowing down and being chronically offline. I can guarantee your life experience will be severely improved if you just take the time to notice.
