Tied to technology

I have to take a break from journaling about grad school to rant about something that has become increasingly annoying to me, and that's people's obsession with technology. I'm talking about people who always have to have the latest phone, blackberry, Ipod, or other gadget. They can't go more than a couple of minutes without texting, and they're constantly checking facebook.

When did it become necessary to be in constant contact with everyone you know? My friend Emily once said that her phone was like a "leash", and I think that's an apt way to describe it. Technology can definitely be enslaving rather than freeing. When it becomes such an addiction that you need to have your cell phone by your side 24/7, I think it's a problem. What drives me crazy the most is when you're hanging out with someone and they're texting every 2 minutes. Why isn't that considered rude when talking on the phone would be?

The thing that makes me sad the most is that sometimes it seems like people are never fully living in the moment. They're always planning the next thing, or talking to someone else, or living in some virtual reality. They're pulled in so many different directions that they can't seem to focus on the task at hand. Just learn to put down the phone, turn off the computer, and enjoy what you're doing at the moment with whoever is there with you. Jim Elliot once said, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." Good advice for our technology-driven society.