SCREENED

We're a society divided, not a nation united.

We sit in front of our computer screens, our tablet screens, our smart phone screens, our TV screens - literally living our lives through a screen.

We see the number of friends on our social media, the number of followers or the number of likes & believe that somehow, this makes us worth something.

But how many of these people do we physically interact with?

How many do we actually know?

If you fell on hard times, how many of those people would step up & support you, be there for you as a friend would do?

Be honest now.

Think long & hard.

I'm sure you can count them on one hand, or maybe you realise you can't count any at all.

People have become a commodity.

Friendship is nothing but a competition, a game, something taken for granted, a novelty we think no longer requires effort.

We have all these ways to communicate yet we never truely converse.

We think that we can just message anyone at any time we want & sure, we can.

But we don't.

Soon will come the day when you can't, when a certain someone who meant so much isn't there anymore.

& you will see it on a Facebook post; a sad and solemn announcement.

Just like that, a person's life is reduced to a status.

How much regret will you carry then?

How much guilt?

& before you know it, it will be your turn.

How will you be remembered?

As nothing more than a series of tweets or posts?

Nothing more than lifeless letters on a lifeless, lonely screen?

How many precious moments have you missed because your eyes were glued to that screen?

How many moments have you actually seen with your own eyes instead of through the eyes of a screen?

How much time have you wasted?

How many times have you wondered how someone was & checked their profile to find out instead of calling them or paying a visit?

Sometimes i wonder, are these sites that claim to unite us actually meant to divide us, separate us, segregate us, categorise us, isolate us & weaken us?

Ask yourself, do you still feel lonely despite your 500 Facebook friends, your 20,000 Instagram or Twitter followers?

Does anyone even know you anymore?

Does anyone know the authentic version of you, or do they only see the image you portray, the image you want them to see; the image you hide behind - like you hide behind your screen.

A screen where we can watch the news flash by & trick ourselves into thinking we're well informed.

But are we really?

The media shows us what we want to see.

You can't control people with the truth & heaven forbid they're allowed to think!

Real facts are boring after all & boring doesn't get the ratings.

& we believe all we hear because, its easier to believe what we're told rather than do our own research or seek out the truth.

Even though we have the resources to do this very thing.

But we're lazy.

Media.

Another way to divide us, separate us, segregate us, categorise us, isolate us & weaken us.

The weaker we are, the more susceptible we become.

The more susceptible we are, the easier it is to hypnotise us, fill us with fear to the point where we are suspicious of everyone & accepting of no one.

If we are separated, how can we fight?

How can we stand up for ourselves?

How can we possibly win?

We live in a delusion of freedom yet still we cannot see it.

Still we fall for the same old lies & the same old tricks.

Technology.

The whole world in our hands at just one click & what have we become?

Slaves.

Screened.

Mindless shells.

A society divided, not a nation united.

So turn off your device.

Shut it down & unplug.

It's when the screen goes dark that you will finally see the light.

COPYRIGHT: CJ