A couple years ago, when school shootings were on the rise, I started to realize how disconnected people were becoming. I felt helpless, and I wanted to do something about it.  Luckily, I was participating in the Landmark Curriculum for Living. I learned to get in touch with who I am, who I want to be, and the importance of having good working relationships with other people.

I realized I needed to figure out why we were all feeling so disconnected. It was easy to blame and judge, I kept having to reset myself to move forward without judgement. I spent lots of time thinking about this, and observing people and interactions. I talked to lots of friends, family, acquaintances, strangers, everyone and anyone that would talk. I also read lots of books and articles.

I’ve concluded, we are getting more disconnected from each other due to technology. We have less in person interaction with our closest friends.  We don’t talk anymore, we email, text, and use pictures to express ourselves. We are able to create a fake reality of our life. We use words on the internet that we would never say to a person’s face. We are hiding behind technology, and I believe it has crippled our ability to interact with people.

We don’t know how to express ourselves anymore unless it’s through a keyboard. Take for example the police and political situations. There are far more people sharing their opinion online than volunteering to help unite and come up with solutions in their neighborhood.

Now, please don’t misunderstand this. I believe in technology completely, here I am using it. I am a computer programmer, and believe technology is an incredible resource. I also believe it has gotten way ahead of us, and we haven’t been able to take a step back and see the disconnection with reality it is causing.

Since my realization, I’ve been determined to use technology to inspire human interaction. I want to show how much we truly impact each other’s lives. I want to show acceptance, and grace can be spread by a simple act of kindness. I want to share positive examples of human interaction in the hopes people will be inspired to spread love on the internet, and in their daily lives. Please take the time to think about your life, and what you do to spread positivity and love.

Please share with us a time in your life when someone helped you when you least expected or needed it most. How did that impact your life, and shape who you are today? Please share how you would like to be that for someone else, and what you will do to continue to be a positive influence for our world. Please share anything positive and loving, and then go out and be that in the world. It’s truly what the world needs now!

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