Live life the real way.

I have 763 friends, yet I am lonely.
I speak to all of them everyday, yet none of them really know me.
The problem I have sits in the spaces between
Looking into their eyes or at a name on a screen.
I took a step back and opened my eyes,
I looked around and realised
That this media we call social is anything but,
When we open our computers and its our doors we shut.
All this technology we have is just an illusion.
Community, companionship, a sense of inclusion.
Yet when you step away from this device of delusion,
You'll awaken to see a world of confusion.
A world where we're slaves to the technology we mastered,
Where information gets sold by some rich, greedy b*st*rd.
A world of self-interest, self-image, self-promotion,
Where we all share our best bits but leave out the emotion.
We're at our most happy with an experience we share,
But is it the same if no-one is there?
Be there for your friends, and they'll be there too,
But no-one will be, if a group message will do.
We edit and exaggerate, crave agilation,
We pretend not to notice the social isolation.
We put our words into order until our lives are glistening,
We don't even know if anyone is listening.
Being alone isn't a problem, let me just emphasize
If you read a book, paint a picture or do some exercise
You're being productive and present, not reserved and recluse,
You'll be awake and attentive and put your time to good use.
So when you're in public and you start to feel alone,
Put your hands behind your head, step away from the phone.
You don't need to stare at your menu or your contact list,
Just talk to one another, learn to coexist.
I can't stand to hear the silence of a busy commuter train
Where no-one wants to talk for the fear of looking insane.
We're becoming unsocial, it no longer satisfies
To engage with one another, and look into someone's eyes.
We're surrounded by children, who since they were born
Have watched us living like robots and think it's the norm.
It's not very likely you'll make 'World's Greatest Dad'
If you can't entertain a child without your iPad.
When I was a child I'd never be home,
I'd be outside with my friends, on our bikes we would roam.
I'd get holes in my trainers and graze up my knees,
And we'd build our own clubhouse high up in the trees.
Now the park is so quiet it gives me a chill,
I see no children outside and the swings hanging still.
There's no skipping, no hopscotch, no church and no steeple,
We're a generation of idiots. Smartphones but dumb people.
So look up from your phone, shut down the display,
Take in your surroundings, make the most of today.
Just one real connection is all it can take
To show you the difference that being there can make.
Be there in the moment as he gives you the look
That you'll remember as when love overtook.
The time he first held your hand or first kissed your lips,
The time you first disagreed but still love him to bits.
The time you don't have to tell hundreds what you've just done,
Because you want to share this moment with just this one.
The time he sold his computer so he could buy you a ring,
The man of your dreams, who is now the real thing.
The time you want to start a family, and the moment when
You first hold your little girl and get to fall in love again.
The time she keeps you up at night and all you want is rest,
And the time you wipe away the tears as your baby leaves the nest.
The time your baby girl returns, with a boy for you to hold,
And the time he calls you Grandma and makes you feel quite old.
The time you take in all you've made just by giving life attention,
And how you're glad you didn't waste it by looking down at some invention.
The time you hold your husband's hand, sit down beside his bed,
You tell him that you love him, lay a kiss upon his head.
He whispers to you quietly, as his heart gives a final beat,
That he's lucky he got stopped by that lost girl in the street.
But none of these times will ever happen, you'll never have any of this
If you're too busy looking down, you don't see the chances you miss.
So look up from the phone, shut off those displays,
We have a finite existence, a set number of days.
Don't waste your life getting caught in the net
Because when the end comes, there's nothing worse than regret.
I am guilty too of being part of this machine,
This digital world where we're heard but not seen,
Where we type as we talk and we read as we chat,
Where we spend hours together without making eye contact.
So don't give into a life where you follow the hype,
Give people your love, don't give them a like.
Disconnect from the need to be heard and defined,
Go out into the world, leave distractions behind.
Look up from your phone, shut down that display,
Go out and enjoy, and live life the real way.