Things Worth Bringing Back
Convenience solved a lot of problems. It also quietly took a few good things with it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how much better we’ve gotten at making life easier.
Everything is faster now.
Food shows up at our door.
We can work from anywhere.
We can talk to someone across the world in seconds.
We have watches tracking our sleep, phones answering almost anything, and technology removing friction from nearly every corner of our lives.
And I’m grateful for a lot of it.But I keep wondering.
In making life more convenient, did we accidentally remove some of the things that made life feel good?
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I miss when knocking on someone’s door was normal.
When kids stayed outside until the streetlights came on.
When you shook someone’s hand, looked them in the eye, and your word actually meant something.
When dinner meant sitting around a table instead of everyone looking at a different screen.
When boredom wasn’t something we immediately tried to escape.
You just sat there.
Thought.
Played.
Built something.
Went outside.
Used your imagination.
I miss when we fixed things before replacing them.
When neighbors knew each other.
When calling your grandparents wasn’t something you kept meaning to do.
And maybe most of all, I miss when experiences didn’t need an audience to feel important.
Not every sunset needed a picture.
Not every workout needed to be posted.
Not every act of kindness needed proof.
Not every thought needed to become content.
“Some things were allowed to simply belong to us.”
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I don’t think technology is the enemy.
I think forgetting how to be human is.
There’s a difference.
Progress doesn’t mean we need to abandon everything that came before us.
Maybe the move is learning how to carry the best parts forward.
Keep your word.
Look people in the eye.
Say please and thank you.
Show up on time.
Call your family.
Know your neighbors.
Eat together.
Go outside.
Play.
Get bored.
Fix what can be fixed.
Work through things before throwing them away.
Help someone without telling anyone about it.
Keep a few memories just for yourself.
These things aren’t old-school.
They’re human.
And maybe the next evolution of wellness isn’t another device, supplement, morning routine, or optimization protocol.
Maybe it’s remembering how to live.
Our responsibility is making sure we keep getting more human.
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This week, bring one thing back.
You don’t have to reject the future to protect what mattered about the past.
Leave the phone behind
Go for a walk with nothing but your own thoughts.Call, don’t text
Invite people over, knock on a door, shake a hand.
Leave the phones somewhere else.Sit and do absolutely nothing
Go outside.
Go play.
Let yourself get bored on purpose.
Technology is going to keep getting smarter.
Our responsibility is making sure we keep getting more human.
That feels like a pretty good place to start.
Stay on the hunt for who you’ve not yet become.