"Have no fear that the wine [of my book] will fail, like happened at the wedding feast of Canna in Galilee. As much as I draw from the tap, I will replace in the bunghole. In this way the barrel will remain inexhaustible."
François Rabelais (1494–1553)
I have 422 friends yet I am lonely I speak to all of them everyday yet none of them really know me The problem I have sits in the space in-between Looking into their eyes or at a name on a screen I took a step back and opened my eyes I looked round and realised This media we call social is anything but when we open our computers and it’s our doors we shut All this technology we have it’s just an illusion Community, companionship, a sense of inclusion When you step away from this device of delusion You awaken to see a world of confusion A world where we’re slaves to the technology we mastered Where information gets sold by some rich, greedy bastard A world of self-interest, self-image, self-promotion Where we all share our best bits but leave out the emotion We’re at our most happy with an experience we share But is it the same if no one is there? Be there for your friends and they’ll be there too But no one will be if a group message will do We edit and exaggerate, crave adulation We pretend not to notice the social isolation We put our words into order till our lives are glistening We don’t even know if anyone is listening Being alone isn’t the problem let me just emphasise If you read a book, paint a picture, or do some exercise You’re being productive and present not reserved and reclused You’re being awake and attentive and putting your time to good use So when you’re in public and you start to feel alone Put your hands behind your head, step away from the phone You don’t need to stare at your menu or at your contact list Just talk to one another, learn to co-exist I can’t stand to hear the silence of a busy commuter train When no one wants to talk for the fear of looking insane We’re becoming unsocial, it no longer satisfies To engage with one another and look into someone’s eyes. We’re surrounded by children who since they were born Have watched us living like robots and think it’s the norm It’s not very likely you’ll make world’s greatest Dad If you can’t entertain a child without using an iPad When I was a child I’d never be home I’d be out with my friends, on our bikes we’d roam I’d wear holes in my trainers and graze up my knees Or build our own clubhouse high up in the trees Now the park is so quiet it gives me a chill See no children outside and the swings hanging still There’s no skipping, no hopscotch, no church and no steeple We’re a generation of idiots, smart phones and dumb people So look up from your phone, shut down the display Take in your surroundings, make the most of today Just one real connection is all it can take To show you the difference that being there can make Be there in the moment as she gives you the look That you remember forever as when love overtook The time she first held your hand or first kissed your lips The time you first disagreed but still loved her to bits The time you don’t have to tell hundreds of what you’ve just done Because you want to share this moment with just this one. The time you sell your computer so you can buy a ring For the girl of your dreams who is now the real thing The time you want to start a family and the moment when You first hold your little girl and get to fall in love again The time she keeps you up at nights and all you want is rest And the time you wipe away the tears as your baby flees the nest The time your baby girl returns with a boy for you to hold And the time he calls you Grandad and makes you feel real old The time you take in all you’ve made when you’re giving life attention And how you’re real glad you didn’t waste it by looking down at some invention The time you hold your wife’s hand, sit down beside her bed. You tell her that you love her, lay a kiss upon her head. She then whispers to you quietly as her heart gives a final beat That she’s lucky she got stopped by that lost boy in the street But none of these times ever happened. You never had any of this When you’re too busy looking down, you don’t see the chances you miss So look up from your phones, shut down those displays We have a finite existence, a set number of days Don’t waste your life getting caught in the net because when the end comes, nothing’s worse than regret I am guilty too of being part of this machine this digital world we are heard but not seen where we type as we talk and read as we chat where we spend hours together without making eye-contact So don’t give in to a life where you follow the hype Give people your love, don’t give them your “like” Disconnect from the need to be heard and defined Go out into the world, leave distractions behind Look up from your phone, shut down the display Stop watching this video, live life the real way.
