My screen time was down 25% last week. Georg and his friend were down at MM for a visit. We ate good food and had great conversations so for a moment I broke up with my phone.
Most of my interactions these days are digital. My challenge is that I essentially moved to the country side during the pandemic and I am a city girl with friends scattered across the world. I struggle, with a couple of exceptions, to actually find people I want to hang out locally. Hence, I have "peopled" in intense periods by going up to Stockholm and seeing my people and then reverting to solitude. It is all or nothing. For the past 22 years I have been super selective about who I hang out with since I kind of love my own company. I will fly to NYC to hang out with my friend Danielle over walking around the corner to hang out with someone for the sake of having company. I said I was an all or nothing kind of girl right?
Esther Perel whom happens to be one of favourite researchers on humans has coined a term: “Artificial Intimacy” which essentially means that we have lost real connection as we have become more digitally connected. It makes a lot of sense. She describes that we strive for a frictionless, a non messy existence, which makes it harder and harder to human in person. So, I ask myself….have I chosen "Artificial Intimacy" over real life interactions by circumstance or by choice?
This week I have had a great week in the country side with my dog with zero human interaction in real life. Zero. I have had countless phone calls with my girl friends and family, a couple of Zooms and many giggles. I will choose that over a forced coffee with someone I do not really want to hang out with. I guess I am wondering if I am leaning in too hard with steel boundaries or if I am opting for a frictionless Artificial Intimacy kind of life? So, this weeks content became centered around trying to figure this out. Thankfully, Brene Brown is back with her Pod. I listen to her, we are fairly similar yet crazy different (she is a Christian from Texas). I like her research methods, I like that she is thorough. I like that she is really aware of confirmation bias and checks herself. So, when she tackles a topic, I generally stop up, think and self-analyse. My analysis will continue on whether or not my preference for artificial intimacy is circumstance driven or motivated by getting socially lazy/inept. The jury is out.
Pods for the Week:
“Vulnerability is not a birthright, it should be, it is a privilege.”—Brene Brown
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