Out of Touch: Dalayna Dillon

Hey, all.. this week my friend Dalayna Dillon has taken over my blog!  I know firsthand that she is a natural and passionate leader, has great depth of insight, and has a very wise outlook on many matters, especially faith and pursuing Jesus.  She actively blogs (with an occasional vlog or two) on her inspiring site "Pointing Up," and she also serves as Church Ministries Pastor at her church in Oklahoma.

You know the drill!  Go ahead and grab your cuppa' Joe, and open your heart as you jump in to her magnificent post.

Hello!  My name is Dalayna, and I am so happy to be able to share a little something with you today here on my good friend Josh's blog.  I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on something that has been on my mind as of late.  There is a bit of sarcasm, so feel free free to not take me quite so seriously (smile).

"Stay connected."  This is the campaign line for many phone providers and the intention behind any source of social media and most technology we have access to these days.  I mean, who thinks of actually using a phone to make a phone call when you can text, SMS, instant message, tweet, Facebook message, email, skype, facetime, snapchat, glide, instant message, vine, heytell, or send mental messages?  Oh, wait, the mental messaging app doesn't come out until next month, my bad.

Sure, some of us in attempts to embrace our roots will still make some phone calls.  But it seems in this age of technology, people are never out of touch.  We know what Pinterest project our high school's homecoming queen is working on, what book our cousin's ex-girlfriend is reading, and even what showtime and theater our neighbor is attending to see Thor.  Shoot, some of probably know what Taylor Swift and Ryan Seacrest had for brunch last Saturday, because we... stay connected?

I have been considering this lately, and I have come to the conclusion that despite our grandiose efforts to "stay connected," in all actuality, we are more out-of-touch with each other than we have ever been.  It seems impossible with all we have bridging the gap of distance and conflicting schedules, but the truth is we don't live life together anymore.  We scroll through each others' lives like an online magazine – no human connection involved or necessary.

Used to be that people did live life together.  They didn't rely on Facebook or Twitter updates to see what a person was up to.  They found out for themselves through a conversation (Conversation: informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken word; oral communication between persons; talk; colloquy).  Sometimes they even made a house call to catch up with a friend (I think that's what doctors made in horse-pulled carriages).  There is something special that you receive from this type of connection with a person, and it is something we are desperately missing in this day and age; it is known as relationship.

In a culture that is so relationally-driven, it makes me wonder why people still seem so lonely and so desperate to fill a void.  I wonder if it could be because we are creating a false sense of relationship through our methods of "staying connected."  Maybe there really isn't a way to have sincere relationships without actual time and energy.  "What?  You mean I have to actually make time for someone other than myself?!"

I don't know, just a thought.

Something I have become very aware of lately is the phasing out of the handshake among teenagers and young adults.  It is the most natural greeting, but somehow feels so unnatural in many cases.  I couldn't tell you how many times I have been introduced to a teenager, or even someone my own age, and felt like the awkward one putting my hand out to greet them.  I remember one time specifically with a high school student I was introduced to and put my hand out, and they just looked at my hand like, "What is that?  You want me to make physical contact with your hand...?  Awkward."  To me this is a symptom of a deeper problem.

We really are out of touch.

Dalayna