Cell Phone Solitude
As I was walking around Ames Park last month after Hurricane Matthew had torn through, I was grabbing some final shots as a young woman walked by, leisurely strolling along talking on her cell phone. I thought how much things have changed since I was her age.
There was a time that walking around a place like this for me would have been peaceful, and contemplative. If I were young again, it would be in solitude if I wanted it, or perhaps not, if I wished someone was there enjoying it with me. I would have been focused on the beauty around me, and if I was with someone else, I might be focused on that person. Looking at the girl walking by on her cell phone made me aware of the fact that so many young people no longer have a clue of what it's like to walk in solitude. They are constantly in touch with others, and never seem to be fully engaging in their surroundings. Aside from missing out on the beauty around them they're not paying attention to, they don't seem to know how to be by themselves. It makes me wonder how they will fare many years from now, when they are old and lose a spouse, or don't have children at home, or friends nearby. How will they cope when they are finally alone with themselves? When there is no constant voice or text to keep them looking at a screen, or if they can't SEE the screen so well anymore, will they suddenly not know what to do with themselves? Will solitude disturb them? Will they be self-sufficient enough to stand alone without technology? Will the day really ever come when that could happen?
As I walked along, I realized that although I had a cell phone in my pocket, I didn't care to be on it at that moment. I was totally engrossed in the place, and the day, and the beauty and horror of it, as things had been torn down, and in between the beauty was some ugliness, but that IS, after all, life, isn't it? It troubled me less than seeing the girl walking through, almost oblivious to the changes and the things that were still the same. Cell phone solitude is not my kind of solitude. I rather hope it never will be.
Cell Phone Solitude
As I was walking around Ames Park last month after Hurricane Matthew had torn through, I was grabbing some final shots as a young woman walked by, leisurely strolling along talking on her cell phone. I thought how much things have changed since I was her age.
There was a time that walking around a place like this for me would have been peaceful, and contemplative. If I were young again, it would be in solitude if I wanted it, or perhaps not, if I wished someone was there enjoying it with me. I would have been focused on the beauty around me, and if I was with someone else, I might be focused on that person. Looking at the girl walking by on her cell phone made me aware of the fact that so many young people no longer have a clue of what it's like to walk in solitude. They are constantly in touch with others, and never seem to be fully engaging in their surroundings. Aside from missing out on the beauty around them they're not paying attention to, they don't seem to know how to be by themselves. It makes me wonder how they will fare many years from now, when they are old and lose a spouse, or don't have children at home, or friends nearby. How will they cope when they are finally alone with themselves? When there is no constant voice or text to keep them looking at a screen, or if they can't SEE the screen so well anymore, will they suddenly not know what to do with themselves? Will solitude disturb them? Will they be self-sufficient enough to stand alone without technology? Will the day really ever come when that could happen?
As I walked along, I realized that although I had a cell phone in my pocket, I didn't care to be on it at that moment. I was totally engrossed in the place, and the day, and the beauty and horror of it, as things had been torn down, and in between the beauty was some ugliness, but that IS, after all, life, isn't it? It troubled me less than seeing the girl walking through, almost oblivious to the changes and the things that were still the same. Cell phone solitude is not my kind of solitude. I rather hope it never will be.