The joy that we receive when we meet an old friend or get together at family gatherings after years went by is unexchangeable. It always feels as if it was just yesterday. We catch up right where we left off with a few new life adjustments. It never stops to amaze me how we can get back and feeling happy and connected in an instant as no time has passed.
Why is a human connection so important? Besides that, we can see and feel them in real life. It also releases oxytocin (the love hormone) that can get rid of our stress and anxiety in a heartbeat. It slows down our breathing and makes us feel whole. If only it could always be this simple.
Looking at the evolution of technology, it causes us to think that it doesn't matter how we connect. We are made to believe that it is sufficient to share our experiences, thoughts, and feelings on a social platform and receive immediate responses to feel better. Sometimes we join a closed group that focuses on a troublesome part in our life (e.g. weight loss, political interest, marital issues, etc.) Where we can be anonymous and select the feedback we like and disregard the rest.
Of course, there are advantages to joining these groups, and a difficult situation might undoubtedly help us find the right path because others have walked them. The danger I see is if that is the only place we find comfort, and we are developing behaviors and attitudes that don't serve reality. Where it is much easier to close the app and forget about what they said than looking in someone's eyes, tell what we think, and finding ways to resolve an issue to discovering new passages together.
Another part of our life, I found disengaging is the extensive cell phones use at work, in public, while driving, during shopping, while eating or walking, and unfortunately, countless many more places. We have come to a time and place where our digital devices are evolved to determine our being. The way we connect is through seeing someone in the eyes and relate to what their saying or trying to say, which isn't possible by looking into a technical device. By observing our surroundings, our brain is creating neural connections that will influence our next move. When we rely on our phones to act, we might be a tad too late.
To conclude why real human connection is so important, I want to raise awareness on how our phones affect us because of social media or other applications. Nothing can replace authentic human connection but an actual human being that shares their success, struggles, and challenges. Only that way are we ready to grow and learn new ways of living. We might be able to start by putting our phones down with awareness and giving the real people around us the attention they deserve. We all crave some extra-human connection, let's practice this vital skill during this joyous holiday season.