Why we need to disconnect to connect
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Today, it seems the only good news we hear of today is the birth of a giraffe at Taronga Zoo or an extra chicken nugget accidentally thrown into our McNugget six pack.
The rest of the news circulates around the world’s millions of displaced refugees, Kim Kardashian’s new selfie, acts of terrorism, Trumps latest tweet, the cycle of poverty, Taylor Swift’s new beau and the rise of homelessness.
We are overwhelmed with a constant flow of convoluted information via our screens. Information of relevance, some of emptiness and clutter.
Indeed, online media has become an inescapable reality for Gen Y but are we the consumers, or is social media consuming us?
We are spending more time interacting with our smartphones than other humans, aimlessly scrolling and refreshing the same newsfeed. I too, admit my guilt of such acts.
The greatest loss of all, is our valuable time.
Ann Makosnki, an 18-year-old TedX speaker never owned a phone until taking her first overseas trip. Makosnki stressed that our generation need to think of all the possibilities off our phone, rather than on it. The resonance of her words struck me.
As millennials navigating the noise of our present world, we need active participation off the screen.
Well, how do we do it?
One of the greatest ways we can do this is through voluntary work.
According to the ABS, it estimated 6 million Australians volunteer each year, but we need more.
As National Volunteers Week run by Volunteering Australia wrapped up last month, I reflect on the truth of their motto, “Give Happy, Live Happy.”
I discovered this truth myself when I began to feed the homeless with my local organisation, Heaven on Earth. My involvement with the organisation led me to the opportunity of a lifetime, a missionary trip to Fiji.
I made the decision to disconnect from excessive social media and have become a better person because of it.
The Youth Volunteering: Evidence Review states it increases millennials skills for employability, and opens our minds. It provides us with the sense of purpose many of us continually seek in our lives and strengthens our social responsibility.
We are able contribute to our local communities and ease the financial burden of non-profit organisations. Voluntary work is also proven to be beneficial for our mental health.
The benefits of volunteer work are extensive, but above all it keeps us grounded.
It has taught me that the same world that houses displaced refugees, acts of terrorism and injustice is the same world that houses a generation of passionate young millennials.
Volunteer work has taught me that for every act of evil that occurs in this world, thousands of acts of goodness should replace it.
We are the drivers of social change.
We just need to shift our eyes off our screens and become the bearers of good news instead.
Our world is so deeply craving it.