Tap, tap, tap
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment we sailed into the capitalist abyss that is now our existence but I think it’s when we started paying with our phones. And truth be told, I think I’m one tap away from throwing my phone in the sea.
From the first tap of the day, I have started to feel a sense of disgust set in. Tap, tap tap. All day. A coffee, oh we need some milk, oh we need socks for the kids, oh we are out of petrol, oh we forgot bread, oh the kids are thirsty and we left their water bottles at home. It goes on. They’ve just made it too easy, we don’t even need to pull out our wallets. Which of course was the whole point. It’s all their in your phone, that little life destroying advertisement device you carry around all day. The sensation is that of disgust as I double click the aptly titled “contactless payment.” The capitalist crush feels very real right now as the weight of what we do not need smothers us. Like a poisonous little salesman bullying us all day from the moment we wake up, and laughing his way to the bank while we sleep.
If you can sleep that is. You’re probably up all night worrying your beautiful little heart about all that tapping you did. And how much tapping you’ll need to do tomorrow.
And our hearts were not made for this “contactless” life. Our hearts, these ancient vessels that have been pumping us through since the beginning of time. That heart can’t be bought and sold. What the heart needs we can’t tap for. What we need, community, connection, compassion…there’s no way to buy it. What it does require is more than a click and I fear we are losing sight of that.
Community does not come easy because it means putting your neck out for others. It means acts of selflessness and dedication of time to the benefit of those around you. It’s hand me down clothes, homemade lasagnas left on door steps, volunteer work and a whole lot of getting out of your comfort zone.
Connection, one they’ve conned us into believing is on our phones, requires presence, intention and tolerance. If we cannot sit in our intolerance of other’s quirks and inadequacies then we can never reap the rewards of true intimacy. Connection requires stretch, stretching beyond what feels comfortable in ourselves. It also needs one vital ingredient: vulnerability.
Which brings me to compassion…one that I feel we are truly tapped out of. You don’t even need to look up when you’re trying to tap tap tap the pain away. Conversations less and less as we take, take and take. And as cheesy as it is, everyone you encounter is worthy of compassion. Compassion, much like community and connection, takes time. And consciousness. To feel for those around us we need to be awake and aware of our surroundings. We need to catch a glance, pick up on a vibe and read between the lines. When people need us most they don’t often wear a sign saying so. It’s in the subtleties of their movements and their actions that let us know we are needed.
Yes, we need food shopping and petrol and socks for the kids. But I doubt much else can be found from the double tap. It’s clear now that we are victims of an ecosystem that doesn’t serve us anymore. We know now that we were pawns in the construction of this empire. One in of aid of a few small, evil men high on power and determined to burn us to the ground. They did so on the promise that our hearts could be bought and sold.
Which they can’t. No no. Not our beautiful, tapping, ancient hearts.