Don’t let the internet decide what matters

In addition to the physical world, we increasingly seem to be living in another plane of existence: the online world.

This is a relatively recent turn, a mark of our modern world. It has taken us to incredible new heights, but also plunging new depths.

It’s no longer about just staying present in the real, physical world with our thoughts, feelings and emotions (i.e., our interpretation of the physical world) forming the stories in our heads, shaping our minds, dictating our actions.

Now, the digital realm is where more of us are spending more and more time. And so, no surprise, it’s another way we’re forming the stories in our heads, shaping our minds, and that’s dictating our actions.

Which makes is easy to forget that the internet is, simply, a tool. It is part of our current reality, but not all of it.

It is, however, shiny, seductive, constantly evolving, and very, very adept at feeding (and feeding on) our deepest desires. In the spaces between casual joy and connection and sharing, the allure of temporary glamour, easy distraction and pretty lip service is strong. And getting stronger.

Some tools are easily labeled to keep or toss, but like most tools with significant potential (and the backing of billion dollar Goliaths), the internet is not one of them. So it matters how we use it, and why and how much, and then look back every so often to see if we made our choices count.

OUR choices. Not the tool’s.

The things that matter, that really count—things that bring us closer to our humanity, or better it—have been roughly the same for as long as we’ve existed.

They are, at times, inconvenient, take longer than we expect, and demand effort and intention. But what they add to our lives is far greater, deeper, richer and more fulfilling than the fleeting sugar highs of clickable pleasures.

Don’t let the internet—surreptitiously—take over, and decide what counts. No matter how sweet, it cannot fill the void you are constantly seeking to fill.