It was past 8pm when I got home that evening from work. It had been a long hectic day with more deadlines than time could sustain; somehow I had managed to juggle my tasks and found a reasonable balance. The traffic was light that evening so it took me a short while to get home.Unfortunately when I got home, there was no power so my intentions to stay up late working were thwarted. As I sat down to have my dinner, it dawned on me that I had not been on what’s app much of the day so this was my moment to catch up with the buzz and hype of social media.
My mind begun to flow with reminders of all the people I was meant to get in touch with but for some reason they had slipped my mind. I typed out a simple message asking about how people’s day had been to a couple of friends and soon it was to a whole lot of friend. The responses were even more overwhelming. One by one; friends begun to share highlights from their day. It seemed like many of them were simply waiting for someone to ask them about their day – I was amazed.
It dawned on me that this could be the missing puzzle in the social media communications. Although we are seemingly in touch, we are so detached from each other. I had a sense of warmth and closeness embrace me as I sent back and forth messages with a couple of friends and acquaintances. It felt like coming home to a big family of friends and loved one, sitting by the fire place and sharing stories of our day’s experiences. I had not had this kind of connection in a while.
The digital migration has taught us how to tweet, text and post statements on our walls that others like, share and follow but we forgot to stop and simply ask how people are. And when we do, we hardly take the time to listen to the responses because we ask in passing. How often we long for this kind of connection and yet we are too afraid to initiate it. Where did this contentedness go?
The more I think about it, the more I advocate for this kind of analogue migration. How about setting days and times when we just stop chatting about everything and nothing and start talking to each other like it matters? When was the last time you expressed your true feelings, insights and struggles to your inner circle of friends? This might require us getting intentional to stop and connect with the people that matter in our lives. My best days happen to be days when I choose to stay offline and I am thinking of having more of those days to simply connect with my inner circle and family. I dare you to make this analogue migration for yourself.
Relationships are not built in a vacuum; they require intentional inputs, efforts and consistence.
Noeline Kirabo