A few days ago, I met a teenage boy (not a client) for the first time with his mother. During the entire verbal exchange with this young man, he barely looked up from the cellphone that was glued to his hands. At the time, I was completely taken aback that he didn’t once look up from his phone, but I was even more taken back that his parent didn’t acknowledge what we were both witnessing together at that moment. Eventually, I mentioned to the young man what seemed like the obvious: he had not looked up from his phone during the entire twenty minutes of our conversation. Although he was physically present in the room with his mother and me, he had missed several details of a beneficial conversation about him.

After that exchange, I’ve been reflective of how much time we give to technology in comparison to the minimal time we give to “experiencing” life. I’ll acknowledge that I’m also guilty of spending too much time using technology, especially social media. As a result of this, I’m distracted from spending quality time with loved ones, appreciating nature and its surroundings, or simply being alone with my own thoughts and feelings. I think this is something we all struggle with as technology becomes even more mainstream. Unfortunately, technology has the ability to hinder our emotional and spiritual growth if there is no balance with its use in our lives. As I’ve reflected on this topic, I stumbled upon this video that further reinforced my views on technology and the importance of “looking up”: