Unplug from the Digital World

Connection... people look for that in no matter where they are and what they're doing. Connecting with people, connecting to myself, connecting to nature. Connecting to something that's more than just what's in front of you. We have the capacity to be more connected to each other than ever before but we're less in touch with each other than ever before because of it. It's a funny paradox. And more and more and more, we think we're more connected than ever. But in fact I think we're disconnecting ourselves. And social media plays a big role there. Because yes, we can see what everyone's up to. But we're doing it from our little isolated room by ourselves. It's not an actual real interaction. The more you get 'likes' the happier you are. But it actually isn't really like that. You go on an Instagram mission to get a photo of yourself doing something adventurous or other people doing something adventurous. And it lost the whole meaning. There was no intention to have fun. It was an intention to capture what looked like fun. And that fakeness, superficiality, it started to wear me down. I do have an addictive personality. And these days my addiction was Facebook. I loved what it brings to me. I love the connection with people. But I really see the superficiality of it. And I would find myself hours later still maybe in bed or in my chair, sitting and communicating through Facebook but actually not. And the very tool that you're supposed to be able to use to simplify things, complicates it. That's the irony. These things were designed in order for you to need to spend less time organising yourself. But at the same time what's happened is that they have provided more reasons to use more of the things that make you organise more stuff. So it's crazy. I usually go onto Facebook when I want to escape. And I'm in my room or on my chair and I'm into this little thing. It's not serving anything. It's not a real thing. It's just that it takes me away.... it takes me away from living, that's what it does. And it takes away a lot from reality, from life. And what I started to see is that I neglect, a lot... people, nature, the universe. It would be a lot more beneficial to me, to my dog, if I went for a walk. Or to the earth if I could garden and weed a little bit. Or plant something and watch it grow. If I'm taking a walk and I'm just quietly looking at the beautiful scenery, I'm automatically connected to that which is within. I never had that emotional connection to nature. It was more just an aesthetic appeal, that it's beautiful, looks good in a shot and that's about it. That feeling of superficiality, it disconnected me from my passion for photography and for adventure. Probably one of the saddest things that have happened to humanity is this disconnect from nature, this view that we are separate to it. In such a wild space when you actually pay attention to it and interact with it, you can actually have an emotional connection to it. And it's a realisation that you are connected and a part of this greater consciousness. I've always found great connection in nature. And it's funny, I only recently rediscovered that. I like the idea of getting away from the city and finding a retuning, a rebalancing of sorts. Nature does that. You also realise the smallness of yourself and the intense, vast and mysterious place that you're living in. I like that about it. It's a great mirror in a way. Your authenticity is challenged in nature, completely where you don't really have anything else to fall back on because it's just so clear. I think we complicate a lot of things in our modern existence by being clever. Get real, take time to be in your situation. Go out, take walks, work in nature. Get to know the world in a beautiful way, in a real way. Spend less time on your phone and connect with people you love, right - that's really it. Thanks to all of you who helped make this film possible. All of our films are totally crowd funded. So if you'd like to continue to support us on our journey check out our Green Renaissance page on Patreon.

Channel: Green Renaissance

Views: 100,750

Rating: 4.9828868 out of 5

Keywords: green renaissance, social media, unplug, unplugged, south africa, digital, detox, nature, mindful, meditate, escape, modern world, living simple, simple life, justine du toit, michael raimondo, patreon, artlist, philosophy, psychology, mental health, stress, depression, happy, reconnect, cellphone, facebook, instagram, swim, ocean, walk, outdoors, switch off, disconnect, connect, offline, addiction

Id: dtNgX56fXck

Length: 8min 58sec (538 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 21 2020