Real VS. Virtual Life

[Raptured Phoenix]

Today it seems we (U.S.A. residents) live in a society that tends to accept -if not emphasize- lives colored by perceptions and illusions. From Hollywood to “Virtual Girlfriend” to psycho-actives to New Age religions, our culture offers a wide spectrum of conceptual lifestyles. The Internet, a prime example of virtual living, offers people to interact hundreds of miles apart. I can sit here in North Carolina and type something that will be read by English speaking peoples from all over the world. We can send each other messages, e-mails, greeting cards, IM’s, etc. In fact, we can organize a whole relationship based on solely nothing substantial.

I’m not sure about you, but I am much more interested in physical interaction with other people, not pixels on a computer monitor. In fact…I’m quite sure most of you reading this right now are interested in some form of ‘physical interaction.’ And yet here you are, staring at an arrangement of lights and colors and electronic circuits, expecting this to somehow help you deal with a material world. Interesting.

I watched a lot of television, I spent time on my computer (obviously), and not until recently have I noticed the effect of these actions on my day-to-day encounters with people. You see, these are all activities that divert your attention into your head…more particularly your eyes. I bet before I mention it, you are completely unaware of your feet, your pelvis, perhaps even your chest. Loosing touch with your other senses can make you feel like you are just a head, much like a balloon attached to a piece-of-string body, floating around aimlessly. You might even feel empty, or lost, as if you were outside yourself, just watching yourself go through your daily routine.

This dissociation doesn’t have to be the way you experience yourself. I encourage you to put forth direct effort. To get a sense of your body, because before you can start interacting with other physical entities you have to interact with yourself.

The term I am familiar with to describe feeling connected with your body is “grounding.” You can call it whatever you wish, but grounding is a term that makes a lot of sense to me. You can feel yourself walking on the ground. If you were to stand up right now and do some physical activity…say…three pushups and three jumping jacks, you would get a much better feel of your body. In fact, after doing the pushups and jumping jacks, you might start loosing interest in sitting at the computer and reading this post. You might have difficulty focusing because all of your awareness attention is directed through your body. It would be alright if you decided to STOP wasting your time sitting in front of the computer and decided to GO out and start doing what you are really interested in.

Aren’t you interested in kinesthetic, interpersonal connections with other individuals who are as eager and excited about forming these connections as/with you?

 

[jgoodz]

You must watch a lot of television and spend waaay too much time on the computer. and even smoke some of that cheeba if you're realizing this now. I feel my legs being sore for the past week from doing squats and such at the gym. Basically the advice that you're giving is "HIT THE GYM!" I tell everyone the same... to realy understand what you and what your body is capable of is to hit the gym and pay more attention to the foods you put in your body. You are what you eat.

 

[Fred Da Head]

Originally posted by jgoodz
You must watch a lot of television and spend waaay too much time on the computer. and even smoke some of that cheeba if you're realizing this now. I feel my legs being sore for the past week from doing squats and such at the gym. Basically the advice that you're giving is "HIT THE GYM!" I tell everyone the same... to realy understand what you and what your body is capable of is to hit the gym and pay more attention to the foods you put in your body. You are what you eat.

I really don't see how is post means "HIT THE GYM!"

It's more a question of going out there and enjoying life as a whole, rather than sitting in front of a box. Tony Robbins said it best when he said "Most people get up froom their box-bed, go into their box-shower, then into their box-car, to their box-office, sitting in front of a box-desk, and using a box-computer. And sometimes for a change they grab a cylinder."

It's a vicious circle though. I used to be a geek and spend most of my timeon the computer, and chatting with friends instead of talking to them. But as time goes on, I try and spend as much time as possible with people, and I find that my interest in staying home doing nothing is going down. Of course, sometimes all I want is to go and sit in front of the TV for a bit, but it's not the same as it used to be.

The problem is, too many people aren't willing to try and go out and be with people, and so they just sit home, watch TV, and play with themselves.

 

[disciple]

One thing I know is that TV and the Internet is no substitute for real life experience so its good to get out and get some.

Life is supposed to be lived and not just talked about.

"Live it, be it, do it".