Digital nomads

If someone were to challenge me to sum up my generation in one word I think it would be "nomad." Webster's defines 'nomad' as "a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory." While the word carries certain connotations of bedouin and gypsy lifestyles it actually is a very elegant description of 21st century America.

We roam, not across deserts and countryside, but across information and relationships. This thought really struck me the other day as I was at the grocery store buying avocados to make guacamole to accompany a healthy plate of tilapia tacos. I was in the store squeezing the awkward green fruit, trying to find two that met my guacamole needs when something caught my eye. In the corner, next to the bell peppers--which, of course are really peppers--and the habaneros was a young woman, older than me but younger than 30, wearing headphones in one ear and a bluetooth headset in the other ear.

I have to admit, the first thought that came to my mind was: Why didn't I think of that? The second though was somewhat sobering. We live in a world where we can be completely caught up in our little spheres of influence, unwilling to move or to be moved by anything outside. We can get so segregated from the world around us that the very limited contact we have with people outside our bubbles can be blocked out by our favorite songs, making human contact obsolete.

I was thinking about this as I finished my shopping and paid for my goodies and while I did I noticed something. Not one person in the grocery store will make eye contact with anyone else. Butchers, sales associates, customers and cashiers alike are all caught up in their own little worlds, staring at their shoes when theirs happens to overlap with someone else's.

I can't help but place some of the blame on technology. Many people will argue that technology is neutral; it's neither good nor bad in and of itself, it just depends on how it's used. I will admit being a strict adherent to this theory until this year when I have had the good fortunes to hear people like Shane Hipps and John Dyer talk about technology.

I don't really want to get into the implications of technology theory right now, but it seems like we've become digital nomads without a home. The only place we're really home is inside our little bubbles. I'm no different, I just feel like I'm finally waking up from mine.

-Caleb Williams