How to stay Authentic During the Intensifying Digital Deluge-by Rose and Dawn of VCS
Most humans on earth have been ordered to stay at home so most businesses in many countries have had to send employees home and set them up to work from home. Businesses that have only ever used the net to perhaps market themselves now find themselves having to utilize it in many other ways, namely, to run their business in order to survive.
Most of the world has, in a relatively short time, had to move online.
This has forced humans to shed their physicality and become digital. The message that has been spread globally is that the physical world is no longer safe and going online means you ARE safe…. But being online means… you do not exist physically! So how do you exist? You are no longer the physical person doing business – you are now an online virtual digital presence. Scary right?
Humans are physical beings. We all breathe the same air. Our physicality is how we exist. We use our five senses to interact with each other and the world around us. Eyes, ears, nose, touch, taste. By becoming more virtual we shed more than half of our physicality and lose three of our senses. Do we want to make this sacrifice?
BUT we are being told, if we don’t make this sacrifice, we will die. That is the message that is being sent globally. If we DON’T social distance ourselves, lock ourselves away, stop interacting with other human beings, we will die, or we will cause someone to die.
This is a message that has now been forced onto most citizens of most countries. This is the message that has been spread. We are killers and we need to stay away from each other because we are all at risk of each other. Thank goodness we have the internet we cry.
We can now be in virtual contact with people worldwide and all talk and chat and socialize.
As our involvement and submersion in the digital world is forced upon us due to social isolation, we are losing ourselves, becoming dislocated from reality and detached from what used to be reality
This is becoming detached from reality. And by becoming detached from reality we lose our actual selves, our physical selves and our purpose as human beings, on earth. Being digital is very different to the actual reality of experiencing love and contact. Humans are physical beings. We have feelings, emotions, desires.
How do we counteract our “selves” drowning digitally? Remember your “human-ness”. It is important to remember the digital world is functional. The physical world is more alive and affects us as a whole, our senses, our bodies. The reason physical reality is important in people’s experience is because of the emotions attached to it.
So how do we remain in contact with our human selves whilst being online? This is where you have to be strict with yourself!
Spend time away from your screen / phone/ iPad – AND APPRECIATE IT.
Stay grounded. Well-grounded people are disciplined, calm, confident and steady. They do not show up as one person one day and another the next.
Manage
- Your stress.
- Your phone.
- Your emails.
Ration
- Your news.
- Your WhatsApp Groups.
- Your social media.
Meditate. When things get too stressful or overwhelming, breathe deep, plant your feet solidly on the ground (if you can go outside barefoot even better) and focus your mind on one part of your body then another, or your breath for 15 minutes. Then open your eyes, stand up and stretch. A short exercise that works so well to keep you grounded and calm.
Be grateful. For 2 minutes (or more if you have the time to spare) in the morning think of the amazing things you have in your life. Practising gratitude for 2 minutes a day changes the chemistry in your brain and makes a huge difference in your outlook during the day.
Let’s do our utmost to stay our wonderful human selves and ensure that our “self” remains with us as we navigate our way through the digital age that is now.
For more information about Rose Chaplin and how VCS can assist your business, please do visit our members page.