Public Service Announcement:
I have become so terrible at texting. If it’s not time sensitive, I will leave a text message in my inbox for DAYS before I respond. I am trying to get better, but living in community often takes so much social energy out of me that I don’t have much to share elsewhere. And if it’s the end of the day (and I still need to write a blog post for the day), then you might as well wait until the following day to try to contact me.
Last year while living in India, I rarely received messages during the day because of the 12 hour time difference. Anyone that might have messaged me would have been sleeping! It was hard some days, but for the most part I became pretty comfortable with being unreachable.
And since being an RA in college and now living in community, I sometimes find myself fighting against this feeling that I need to be able to be contacted at all times. I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel natural to me, and maybe that’s because it’s not so natural.
Instant communication is a relatively new thing for human beings, but it has still become a big expectation, especially in western cultures. This ability to be contacted instantly is not only expected in the workplace, but also between friends and family. And all together I find it to be very exhausting at times.
Of course there are so many things I love about being able to communicate so freely. Obviously. Overall I think it’s a very good thing. But I also think we all need to take a step back, and lower our expectations for one another. Give people the freedom to be alone, take time to respond, or not communicate at all—trust the relationship you have with the person. Give them space. Call them on the phone. Write them a letter.
Or write me a letter.
You’ll probably get a reply just as fast as if you texted me anyways.
Keep peace and keep creating,
Parker <3
