My Worst Fear

In the March issue of Our State is a story about a man who, while working in the office, accidentally spilled coffee on his desk. His immediate reaction was to automatically hit "control+Z" on his keyboard (the shortcut for "undo"). In that moment, he suddenly realized his life had become so artificial that his subconscious wasn't distinguishing between the real world and the digital world. 

This is my worst fear.

I crave authenticity in every aspect of my life. That's why entering the journalism field is scary to me. It's a digital future. We're progressively living more and more in front of lit-up screens. You can't be successful in this world without spending significant amounts of time with your computer and phone. 

I want my life to be dynamic, engaging, fulfilling, challenging, and genuine. Those words don't seem to describe life on a desktop. I just don't see interaction online as authentic. Emails and instant messaging... those things should be supplements to the "real thing" of face-to-face encounters.

I know I've been harping on this the past few days, but these thoughts are haunting me and I don't know what to do about it.