Welcome to Nirvana

 

nir·va·na

[nərˈvänə, nirˈvänə] - a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma.

 

Hi, my name is Colton Anglin. I am an eighteen year old student born and raised out of Peoria Arizona.

The year is 2016.

 Throughout my life, I have faced defeat, victory, struggle, and conquering the overwhelming, nearly impossible, stress induced task of learning how to be human. I introduce to you, lesson one: Human interaction.

I have created a new world of stress and obsession with this question. I have walked corner to corner, going street to street trying to find a perfect example of what it is to be “Human.” From the helpless yet content homeless to the prideful rich, I could not seem to find any traces of human activity. The world we live in is victimized from the weapon in the palm of our hands. The cell phone. Even though now, it’s hard to call it just a phone. This device has been chained to the direct link to the brain and the heart. It has taken our eyes hostage until the number of likes on social media has been presented. It has stitched our lips together and set our thumbs free in order to communicate. This is no longer a phone, this is a weapon. It shoots down our critical thinking and cuts our attention to detail away. This weapon has created a world of alienated people. The human race no longer depends on human interaction to complete tasks or communicate with friends. It depends on social media and texting. This world is plagued with the technology that runs through our veins.

Aside from the didactic metaphors and poetic verses, this is truly a growing issue. I recently was walking through the mall just twenty minutes from my house. I haven’t been there in quite some time but I could not help but notice some changes. One that stood out was there was a new store. An extremely bright and fluorescently lit store with possibly a couple of hundred people in there. There are friendly and conveniently helpful staff members there, that seem as if there are somewhat scripted in what to say. This store is the new Apple store. The only place in the mall to get better ammunition for your weapon. I just couldn’t help but notice the psychological advantage such a prestigious store has over the rest of the mall. A large area to work in. A very bright room. Specialized glass doors that make you feel like you’re walking into a store of the future. I just can’t seem to wonder why we buy into such a dehumanizing product. I too am a victim of this. Maybe we as a human race should devolve our awareness to the world. Go back to talking to each other. Go back to human interaction.

 Unfortunately this will not change. It’s how things are now.

My name is Colton Anglin. I am an eighteen year old student born and raised out of Peoria Arizona.

The year is 1984.