There are probably moments where you sent someone a message and they didn’t respond immediately, thinking they were ignoring you. Or you called someone asking if they were okay because you haven’t seen them post a story/status/reel in a week or two. The online world has fabricated itself as the real world, making some of us seemingly forget that life exists outside of our screens. We like, comment and react to everything on TikTok and instagram instead of in person.

Now, some of us are longing to slow down and regain our presence in the outside world…The REAL World. It starts with nostalgia, looking back on how life was before you thought a minute was too long for a video. Things like film photography, journaling, reading hard copy books over e-books and playing board games and sports outside of our screens. The term “touching grass” has not yet died.

Hyper-connectivity preached togetherness, but clear analysis shows that it only created more judgement and critique as now the whole world has the option to observe your online presence. Now that you are expected to post your life, likes and lies, there’s so many tweaks, edits and 'post-and-deletes' to try and please an audience whose opinions are ever changing. When you step outside of social media, when you’re in your own bubble where no one's watching, suddenly you are able to live life freely without having to put on a performance. 

Physicality is grounding. The act of writing with a pen on a piece of paper and having to draw a line through a misspelling. Having conversations with friends or strangers and not being able to resend or retype what you say. The freedom of simply walking around and hearing all the sounds that the world is creating around you. These interactions remove the numbness of our virtuality. It’s not about rejecting technology but rather embracing being present and alive. 

So yes, next time your friend is offline for a while, assume the best! He’s taking a walk or catching up with family and doesn’t feel the need to share it. Touching grass is reclaiming a part of your personal life without needing to document it. To not simply have more connections but rather vouch for deeper ones.

-When the digital world has us constantly refreshing it, the physical refreshes us.