Cheers to a New Year. A New Decade. A New Canvas for another masterpiece.

Dear Society:
To your flashing lights
Long nights
Early flights
Your angry fights

To the loss of memories
Ignored and overlooked in a nation
So focused on the Destination
And not on the Journey

To the hundreds of online friends
Who will never be enough to make amends
And the crippling effects of loneliness
In a society that looks down on wholeness

Where exhaustion and sleep deprivation
Are worn like badges of achievement,
Expecting appreciation
While the antiquated notions of balance and communication
Are spiraling into depreciation.

Amid this new age of constant fascination
The world pulling us in every direction
With the allure of business: bells and whistles
Which puts our friends and loved ones into dismissal

Is there really no way
For us to hit pause?

What if …
Instead of worrying about getting the perfect caption
We focused on real human interaction?

What if …
Instead of Facetime, we met face to face?

What if …
Instead of online chat rooms, we gathered in living rooms

What if …
Instead of counting all the things that went wrong
We focused on the small moments that make us strong?
The chirping of birds and their songs
The meals lovingly prepared
Even after a workday that is long

Because despite this influx of innovation
We are losing connection
With those around us
And to ourselves

When was the last time we put down a phone
Without an exasperated groan?

What about the last time we thought about how we could grow
Instead of complaining because our laptop batteries were low?

Instead of living a life told by hashtags and 15-second stories
What if we lived
By celebrating Small Victories?

What if we cherish each other
And the memories made together?