Yesterday, this (ironically) viral video caught my attention:
(If you’re looking for cliff notes of the video, click here for the back story and then keep reading).
I had never followed Essena O’Neill’s accounts, but was struck by the honesty, vulnerability and power in her message.
I’ve talked with a lot of friends in recent months about how isolating New York can feel. You walk onto any subway car during rush hour, and it’s as if we’re all cyborgs — glued to our smartphones, headphones in ears, doing everything we can to zone out the rest of the world. We’re together, but completely alone. And I’m guilty of this as much as the next person; it’s so much easier to engage in the virtual world than it is to engage in our physical world. But what kind of impact is this having? How is this shaping us as people?
