LATELY, WE HAVE ALL BEEN ON OUR SMART PHONES AN EXTRA AMOUNT. OR LET’S BE HONEST. WE HAVE ALL BEEN ON OUR PHONES MORE SINCE WE FIGURED OUT HOW TO TEXT, CHECK OUR EMAILS, GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND ALL THAT GOOD CONNECTION STUFF THAT WE DID NOT PREVIOUSLY DID NOT HAVE IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO. I REMEMBER, YEARS AGO NOW, WHEN I LEARNED TO COMMUNICATE VIA TEXT. WOW! AN ENTIRE NEW WORLD OF INSTANT SEND AND RESPONSE OPENED UP AND NOW WE ARE ADDICTED. EVERY . . . SINGLE . . . ONE . . .OF US! DON’T PRETEND YOU ARE NOT.
IT IS NOT A SECRET THAT OUR BRAIN RELEASES DOPAMINE EVERY TIME YOU HEAR THE DING FROM YOUR PHONE ANNOUNCING A TEXT MESSAGE, AN EMAIL, OR ANY NOTIFICATION FROM YOUR BANK OR YOUR REMINDER TO DRINK WATER, OR TO LOOK AT FACEBOOK. THEY ARE NOTIFYING YOU EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY. WE ALL GET A LITTLE RUSH. BE HONEST. AND IF YOU DON’T GET THE ACTUAL RESPONSE YOU WERE HOPING FOR . . . A MOMENTARY SENSATION OF DEPRESSION OCCURS. IT IS LIKE A FLICKER BUT IT CAN WEIGH HEAVY, TOO.
I FIND MYSELF TO BE SENSITIVE WHEN I RECEIVE A CURT TEXT. I SUDDENLY JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. IS HE MAD? IS SHE UPSET? DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG? AM I IRRELEVANT? DO THEY NOT CARE? MY RATIONAL MIND KNOOOOOOWS THAT I SHOULD NOT TAKE A TEXT THAT IS “TO THE POINT” SO SERIOUSLY. BUT SERIOUSLY, IF YOU DO NOT THROW IN AN EMOJI OF SOME SORT IN THERE, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS BEHIND YOUR TEXT WHEN YOU SAY, “OK.” ARE YOU TRYING TO MINIMIZE OUR CONNECTION? ARE YOU TOO BUSY TO GIVE ME ATTENTION?
I REALIZE THAT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS IS WRONG. MAYBE THE OTHER PERSON IS REALLY JUST BUSY. OR MAYBE THAT PERSON DOES NOT VALUE A LONGER TEXT. THEY DO NOT THINK IT IS A TRUE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THEY WANT TO COMMUNICATE. MAYBE THEY ARE HAVING A ROUGH DAY OF THEIR OWN. OR MAYBE THAT IS THE LEVEL OF COMMUNICATION THAT THEY ARE WILLING TO GIVE THROUGH A SMARTPHONE – AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!
OR MAYBE THEY ARE PISSED AT YOU.
USUALLY, MY NEURONS AND I TEXT BACK IN AN ANGRY WAY ALSO. HA! I WILL NOT SHOW ANY LOVE, NO EMOJIS, NO WARM WORDS, NOT EVEN A FREAKING PERIOD! DO NOT TELL ME THAT WHEN SOMEONE OMITS A PERIOD, IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WERE NOT EVEN WORTH A LITTLE DOT . . . .
IF YOU ARE CURT, I WILL BE CURT, TOO.
IT IS HUMAN NATURE TO MIRROR ONE ANOTHER. WE REACT WITH THE SAME BEHAVIOR. HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT WHEN YOU YAWN, THE OTHER PERSON NEXT TO YOU ALSO YAWNS? WE ARE WILDLY COMPLEX. I AM NOT AFRAID TO SAY THAT WOMEN, BEING MORE PERCEPTIVE BY NATURE, READ WAY MORE INTO THINGS THAN MEN ALTHOUGH IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF MEN THAT ARE AFFECTED BY THE SUBTLETIES OF TEXT COMMUNICATION.
HERE IS ANOTHER TRIGGER. SENDING A TEXT AND NOT RECEIVING A DAMN RESPONSE! I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS WORSE: NO RESPONSE OR “K”, K KINDA KILLS ME, TOO. I MEAN, I GET IT. YOU ARE BUSY. BUT GUESS WHAT? I AM BUSY, TOO!
I SHOULD CONFESS THAT I HAVE BEEN CALLED OUT, TOO. “HOW COME YOU ARE NOT ANSWERING ME? ARE YOU IGNORING ME?!” OH SNAP, I FORGOT TO RESPOND. UNINTENTIONALLY, I SWEAR. I WAS TOO BUSY SEETHING ABOUT A TEXT OR EMAIL THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAD NOT RESPONDED TO!
THEN THERE ARE TEXTS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO EVERY SINGLE COMMENT? I BETTER. OTHERWISE, BE DAMNED!!
THIS NEW ERA OF COMMUNICATION IS VERY DEMANDING ON US. WE WANT IMMEDIATE ANSWERS AND WE WANT THEM TO BE ANSWERED IN A NICE WAY OR ELSE. I AM GOING TO TRY TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE OF PEOPLE’S TIME AND FEELINGS. THAT WOULD BE A VERY HEALTHY THING TO DO FOR MYSELF.
PLEASE WRITE TO ME. CONNECTION IS EVERYTHING TO ME RIGHT NOW. SENDING LIGHTNESS AND HEALTH.
GUADALUPE
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AT GUADALUPEJ4K@GMAIL.COM