I’ve not been able to put my finger on exactly what bothers me about “nowadays” but think I’m getting closer. Before I go all high horse on you, let me preface by saying I know I’m part of the problem. As I drove along the Mississippi Coast and my home town(s) In December I was struck by how we are such a throwaway society that now we are just discarding buildings and malls and moving along. It made me wonder what, in this world of constant movement and busyness, do we even do anymore?

With the advent of the delivery economy, food and retail and damn near everything else are delivered straight to our door. Yeah you have to pause Netflix and answer the door, but you don’t need to leave often. What are we avoiding doing?  Are we that lazy? 

I wrote recently about how all our doing is tied to our phones and technology for the most part. Kids too. It’s cliche to say “get outside” and the like but really I wish we could go back to more social doing. 

Maybe it’s age but it seemed like everything was much more “get out with people” oriented when I was younger. Skating rink, swim team, social groups in college, it was all people and place based. I also understand I go to bed at 9 pm so I may be missing some of it, but overall I think society these days is more solo based and in turn, more lonely. 

Over the past 3-4 years the training community I felt like I was a big part of seemed to shrink more and more. Part of that’s always on ourselves as you’ve gotta give to get and with time and life constraints comes a lot of solo training. The problem with that is it becomes the normal and that grows weary. I think part of my dissatisfaction with where my personal relationship with fitness these days has something to do with that.  It lacks the social component I didn’t know I craved. 

I’ve always been a little lone wolf leaning.  On group rides and runs I’m known to say good morning put in headphones and then not say another word for the next 2 hours. I’m quiet at home and I don’t say much at work. All of this drives me in. And in and in. Quieter. Isolated. Perceived  as aloof, serious and unapproachable.  

I’ve even noticed in social settings an awkwardness that wasn’t there before. Yes, the guy that seems like he’d be super talkative is quiet and awkward and questions his interpersonal skills a little. All of this is because we aren’t as person to person social these days.  But damn, don’t we look so on the social media’s?

Again, this whole post may just be about me and how it feels where I sit, but I’m sure if I got out my googler I could find multiple articles written about the same thing. I’m sure they argue (and are correct) that the gathering of likes and the interactive conversations on posts have just replaced our actual social interactions and that this is overall a negative for people’s sense of being and loneliness. 

We are social animals. We crave the interaction and we’ve lost that, or at least I have. 

Memories and experiences are tied to people for the most part. The act of sharing makes them better. For whatever reason I’ve veered away from that. Technology has made it easier to do that and to get back to some of the “good old days” it’s going to take effort. Daily. No different than forming any other good habit, you have to try.  To force ourselves even. It matters. I think a lot.

For me it starts at home and with the group of people in the picture in the post. I have a social group that I get to work with. I just need to put more into it and do more things even when it’s passed my bedtime or happening outside the little isolated bubble I’ve created.

Like most things the answers are right in front of me (us).

#hugsandhi5s