A hand hovers through the air, weightless in a moment that seems to drag on forever. A faint “Click” follows, the silent sound breaking the ominous nocturnal silence in the unlit room. Millions of pixels instantaneously spark to life, lightening even the farthest crevices of the small, square room. This minuscule action unlocks billions of vaults full of information, millions of videos waiting to be watched, hundreds of thousands of words waiting to be read, thousands of pictures waiting to be seen, hundreds of texts waiting to be sent, and multitudes of secrets waiting to be discovered, all actions waiting to be experienced. But at to what cost to he who experiences them?
The hyper-speed world we live in today is constantly full of tasks needing accomplishing, assignments needing to be worked, and overall progress needing to be achieved. The endless attention focused on these tasks in the name of efficiency leaves absolutely no time for meandering daydreams. However, work is often pushed to the side. One sub-consciously creates fears and hurdles that make it prohibitive, even impossible at times to continue toiling. Thus, one finds that an abundance of “free time” is created.
This free time is wasted, or better yet, invested into a pervasive system, a loop of endless consumption with no end in sight. The vaults are opened, the videos played, the texts sent, and the secrets unveiled. But the vaults do not contain information of importance, they contain colourful rubber ducks. The videos do not create meaningful connections, they are played once and then lost forever. The pictures are more often taken than remembered, and the texts more often delivered than read. While the words waiting to be read, they die where they were born.
Is this where we had envisioned our actions would take us? To a door leading to another door ad infinitum? Or had we something more tangible in mind? As you find yourself trapped inside the loop, for I have no doubt you will, I challenge you to escape it, to ask yourself what you have entered for, to keep your goals in mind and to face your tasks head on, overcoming fears and obstacles instead of evading them. I cannot urge you enough, for I too often find myself reaching for the handle.
