Comments on: The Lost Art of Real Connections https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/ Cathy Chester, MS Advocate shares decades of wisdom Fri, 21 Jul 2023 22:00:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19842 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:41:54 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19842 Helen,

You make some excellent points. As others have said, we all need to find a balance between technology and good old fashioned letter writing, phone calling and - getting together! I will have to look at your website (congrats).

Thanks for stopping by and letting me know your feelings on our post. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to let me know your thoughts.

Cheers~
Cathy

]]> By: Helen Simmons https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19841 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:13:56 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19841 Cathy,
Thanks to you and your husband for wonderful posting addressing the challenges of communications today. I agree with you and so many of the other comments. While on the surface it seems that we're communicating more, I am not sure that our communications have much lasting value....the fleeting nature of Tweets and Facebook postings. I wonder how much we are losing of family history as we simply send emails or even blog instead of writing in a journal or diary. Even if we save and create backups of our electronic communications will be able to access and read those files in 50 years or so? Obviously, I am a fan of letters delivered by mail to your door or mailbox as founder of Write2Them (http://www.write2them.net), but I also embrace email technology for the convenience it brings to our life.

]]> By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19840 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:46:30 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19840 Emily,

Thanks for enjoying my husband taking a turn at writing my blog. So funny that he really "got into my head" and wrote almost the same thing I would have written myself. Extraordinary.

I know what you and your friend mean about going back to a time before cell phones. All of the English writing classes and grammar classes, and practicing our cursive and print - what will happen to that when everyone types everything? I worry about the next generation and what they've missed. But, perhaps, our parents worried about us the same way. So each generation has more technology and the generation before them worries. A pattern is emerging.

Let's hope for the best, continue to raise our children the best we know how, and realize that our future, and our children's future, looks bright.

Cheers~
Cathy

]]> By: Emily https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19839 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:44:28 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19839 I love the fact that your husband wrote this post, with your thoughts! As I see my kids become more and more enthralled with technology, I worry. A friend of mine recently asked me to edit an essay she wrote because she is applying to a school to become a speech pathologist (at the age of 47 -- good for her!). In her essay, she had to answer the question, "if you could pick a time in history to go back to, what time would that be and why?" She chose the time before cell phones, because she watches her teens text with abbreviations rather than full words and she watches her kids have friends over and yet they all sit on the couch with their heads down into their phones...in her essay, she too wrote about the lost art of conversation. I do hope it comes back.

]]> By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19838 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:28:49 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19838 Janie,

I had to read your reply out loud to my husband - it was SO funny. Yes, indeed. An entire new specialty in medical school - balancing our necks to stay upright when they cannot do it on their own. My, my - "how the mighty have fallen."

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Janie. And for giving me a good laugh!

Cheers~
Cathy

]]> By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19837 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:26:38 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19837 Lee,

It's incredible how everyone - young and old alike- are consumed with all of the latest and great technology. I long for the day when we can return to a bit more sanity, better manners and more face-to-face communication between people. I miss it, yet I have to catch myself sometimes from texting and checking my emails too often. (That's the downside of having all of my paid jobs being via the Internet! Not to mention this blog...)

Who knows what will happen with the next generation, and the generation after that? I am tired of people not returning calls, forgetting to reply to a simple email, or forgetting about you while being in the midst of their maze of being too busy with life. A five minute reply is not asking too much in the scheme of things.

Thanks for your response, Lee. It is greatly appreciated, and I thank you for stopping by!

Cheers~
Cathy

]]> By: Janie Emaus https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19836 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:59:20 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19836 I believe there is going to be a whole new world of medicine in the future: one to help people keep their heads up instead of always looking down.

]]> By: Lee https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19835 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:58:28 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19835 This is so true. And when you make plans to meet for dinner or a movie, it's done by text or email. I often think what would life be like if all we had listen to was the sound of everyone's cellphones going off with text notifications, email notifications and the ring tones. So much clicking and unnecessary noise! I don't think the younger generation knows how to communicate, much less write a letter, and they even communicate with their teachers and class by twitter now. Think about online classes, where you don't EVER have face to face communication. Think of how much we learned sitting in a lecture hall that these students are missing. How sad for this generation...

]]> By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19834 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 11:25:54 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19834 I hope with all of my heart you are right in your optimistic approach toward regaining the beauty in human connections.

While I miss skipping down our long driveway (that's how long ago it was) to my mailbox, breathless with anticipation of receiving a letter meant only for me, I also love the genius and ease of the technological advances we enjoy today.

There MUST be a balance. Hopefully, as you said, we'll find that balance once the novelty of technology wears off. We are optimistic people and, as such, will hold on tight to that thought.

]]> By: Grown and Flown https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19833 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:46:27 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19833 Believe this wholeheartedly. I think we naturally crave this type of real human connection and while we are enthralled with what technology can do for us as we get used to it and it becomes less of a novelty, we will come back to true meaningful discourse. I am optimistic.

]]> By: Cathy Chester https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19832 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:13:44 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19832 Pat,

Exactly right. I miss going to the mailbox to see whether I received any letters from family and friends. I miss return phone calls on our "regular" home phone from people who are well-mannered enough to keep in touch. Technology is wonderful, but we've all gotten away from the importance of keeping in touch with each other, and actually talking face-to-face with another person. What is happening, and what are we teaching our children?

I am sad you have seen the change at the school where you teach. What can be done about this? I don't know. But life is so fleeting, and I treasure those I love and try to reach out to them as much as possible. The problem is not everyone is on the same page as I (we) are.

Thanks for commenting, Pat. I was happy to read your comments.

Cheers~
Cathy

]]> By: Pat https://anempoweredspirit.com/art-of-connections/#comment-19831 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:02:11 +0000 http://anempoweredspirit.clients.kidaweb.com/2013/01/27/the-lost-art-of-real-connections/#comment-19831 Cathy, this is a timely post and oh so, true. Social media is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand it allows to us to connect with friends, family and like minded people that share the same passion, but at the same it sucks our souls. The solution is to find the balance. But how? What makes it more difficult is that in the workplace we have become more technocratic and less human. I have seen the change within the school where I teach.

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