Ironies

Do you ever wonder how many faces you pass by with the same song echoing in their earphones as yours? Because I do.
I wonder how many would-bes have perished while we are constantly looking down at our phones, how many stories have been lost in the constant battle of avoiding eye contact in a crowd of restless eyes.

We are a generation of ironies.
We chase after followers we barely know, and shy away from the one person we know on the street.
We fear the robots that are human-like while becoming more robot-like.
We crave deep conversations, but never ask more than what’s up.
We let each moment pass by in an effort to capture that very moment.
We rush through our days hoping to slow time long enough to get a breath of fresh air.
We want to live life to the fullest, yet our phones have become akin to life support.

Or maybe, just maybe, we are lost in a world of too much or too little.

It’s time we turned this around.
Let us start by having an actual conversation with a stranger, without a screen to interrupt. Take the time to notice how their mouth curls into a smile, or how their eyes light up on mentioning something they love.
Let’s not avoid awkward glances. Let’s embrace them and smile back, even if it makes us look like fools once in a while.
Let’s take a moment and thank that doorman, that cab driver, that waiter, because they are all just as human as we are.
Let’s pick up the phone and call someone up. Better yet, show up at their doorstep! (Don’t really do that. Even if you do, don’t tell them I sent you).
Let’s stop watching our dream life on YouTube, and work for it instead.
Let’s stop letting Facebook tell us when our loved ones need to be wished.
Let’s stop looking to Instagram to know what our friends have been up to.
Let’s just stop.
And be more human.