“Time…why you punish me?”
Those lyrics from Hootie & the Blowfish hit the radio about two decades ago, but it seems they were far ahead of their time.
We live our lives at a breakneck pace today — the result of both innovation and the shifting of cultural norms. With the Internet in our pockets and with TV screens we can control with our voice, our days are now made up of hundreds of moments — Micromoments, as Google calls them. Attention is a precious commodity that mass media, marketing and entertainment professionals work tirelessly to capture; Attention Deficit Disorder has gone from a diagnosable problem to an acceptable condition.
To paraphrase Queen, “We want it all, and we want it now.”
But in the race to jam pack our lives with as much as we can, we’re leaving something valuable in the dust.
Meaningfulness.
Our development, both individually and as a society, depends on our ability to interpret meaning in what we do. This important process is a deliberate one, one that can’t be squeezed into the 24/7 circus we put ourselves through these days.
Simply put, the last viral thing we watched, the last rapid-fire experience we took on — it won’t resonate with us for long. Heck, we might not even remember it tomorrow.
So, while the modern-day lifestyle habits satiate our childish needs for “more, more, more” — and keep us away from the cultural stigma of FOMO — they also suffocate our ability to unpack what we expose ourselves to and use that newfound knowledge in a productive manner.
Without meaningfulness, we’re less balanced, less empowered, less smart. The race to the bottom intensifies.
But we can end this self-deprecating cycle.
It’s time we slow down the pace.
It’s time we take a moment to think, to fully digest all that we experience.
It’s time we consider the impact of what we do, and whether there is one in the first place.
It’s time we embrace moments of silent thought, enjoying the life unplugged the way we did in the days when the Macarena was a hit.
It’s time we commit ourselves to the pursuits that matter.
Only after we find this balance of pace and infotainment access will the world truly be at our fingertips.