Are We Truly Connected?

I ask you, are we truly connected?

I, for one, am so very thankful for technology.  Personally, I think we are so privileged to have such a vast amount of information available, literally at our fingertips.  As with all things in life, too much of a good thing is also not conducive.  We have those souls who use technology for the more negative and darker side of life, souls operating from a more Ego centered space, rather than from spiritual connectedness, who are causing great destruction in the process.

As positive and productive as technology can be, I do think that it is the cause of great disconnectedness.

However, in the same breath, it has given us the opportunity to connect with anyone, anywhere, at any time.  With all the social media, we can connect with long lost friends and family, we have been enabled to search for family who, perhaps, we have never known. We are able to make friends with people who we would probably not even have glanced in a “real life” setting.  We have been empowered to grow more successful businesses as our audience has become global.  We now have the capacity to logon anywhere in the world, and to still be productive in terms of Employment Contracts. Medicine has excelled and information of new techniques can be shared globally; goodness, some organs can even be printed!  We are all connected all the time…aren’t we?

But, are we truly all connected? Do we know what half the people who we spend hours talking to even look like? It will probably depend on the level of technology you use. But, even with the latest tech, is loneliness eradicated, now that we are all supposedly connected?

Here is a little tale; a young and very lonely man calls a helpline. On the other side of this line is a young lady who has the “job” to assist people in emotional need, which she does very well. This young man enjoyed their conversation so much that he more calls her more frequently, and eventually she goes with him on holiday, to work, and to every new experience he chooses. The only thing is that she only travels with him on his earpiece. He falls very much in love with her and this virtual relationship they have. After some time passes, she tells him she will no longer be able to have these conversations, as she was passing on in her life.  He requested a meeting with her so that they could perhaps continue with their relationship.  Her only response was that she spoke the same way to every one of the callers who needed her at the time, and she’d given each one of them the same type of attention and care that she had shared with him: that was her job.  She greeted him, and the earpiece was dead for the last time.This young man had called out of loneliness and found someone to listen.We are human, I believe we were created to love and touch eachother.

We are supposed to look one another in the eye, so that our souls can connect and we can see what the other is not saying. We have to argue a little, make love to each other, or just be. Similar to the Ego and its perceptions of reality, a virtual connection is just that – virtual; it is not real.  This young man lost so much time in the virtual world he created and chose to be his truth, but in a second it all changed to nothingness. He does not even have a captured image, or even a moment shared together with this woman for memory’s sake. Some may argue that he was connected to her, that he experienced love and connectedness.  Perhaps they do have a point, but my question is; how can you truly connect to a virtual being?  How do we touch one another virtually, give a hug or a kiss?  I know that my world does not make sense if I am not connected to my loved ones.  I know that when my days do not seem to work as well as they should, and harmony and balance are nowhere to be found, all I have to do is find the shelter of my husband, hold on tight, take a deep breath, and all will soon return to normal. Our connectedness is but one of the foundations from which I can operate strongly and confidently; it brings calmness and balance within my core being. 

Le me ask you: if you had to do the test and switch off all technology that you own without breaking into a panic attack, who would be around you?  Do you have someone to talk with, to share your day with, to laugh with and to love? Do you have a strong foundation that you can operate from, so you can function knowing that, in that space, all things are well?

If you answered no to any of these questions, please agree with yourself to find someone to share your time with. Always remember: you are loved, valued and worth every happiness life has to offer.

Dr. Leana Pretorius PhD