Sunday Firesides: What's Happening Is ...

Most everyone would like to spend less time on social media.

Yet our desire to dial down our surfing habits is constantly thwarted by the incessant, overweening itch to know what’s going on.

We stay glued to our ever-refreshing feeds to ensure we don’t miss anything — to answer the burning question: “What’s happening?!”

Well, what’s happening is that you lost the full thrust of the book you were reading by toggling between it and your phone.

What’s happening is that you missed a moment of connection with your kid, who will never again be as young as she was right then.

What’s happening is that an algorithm created by a profit-driven globo-corp is subtly manipulating the lens through which you view the world.

What’s happening is that a friend decided not to go deeper into a subject because he could tell you weren’t fully paying attention.

What’s happening is that an uncomfortable emotion signaling an unaddressed issue in your life was submerged in yet another spin of the digital wheel.

What’s happening is that you let a chorus of comments from strangers shape your opinion on an idea before forming your own original take.

What’s happening is that you just spent fifteen minutes catching up on the lives of old acquaintances you would have lost track of — without a twinge of regret — twenty years ago.

What’s happening is that gazing over influencer- and news-media-generated outrage porn triggered imperceptible drips of cortisol which will diminish your mental and physical health.

What’s happening is that you missed seeing the colors of the sunset right at their peak just outside the passenger side window.

What’s happening is that the thorns of distraction popped a bubble of life-changing inspiration just as it was about to rise into consciousness.

And now you’re all caught up.

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