Your Relationship Radio hosted by Peter Ehrlich and Liza Fromer- YRR

By Lori Dennis YRR Psychotherapist

Blackberries, iphones, Facebook, and the like have created one large global village, connecting us in ways we never imagined. While our ability to talk to who we want, when we want, in ways we want has grown exponentially - something critical has been lost in translation: face-to-face contact - old fashioned, human social skills.

In-person conversation is becoming rare. We’re far more comfortable sharing our lives via screen and keyboard - than in the flesh. So while we’re more connected than ever, it depends on how you define connection. By breadth … or by depth? Yes, you may have 587 friends on your Facebook page, but c’mon … are they really your friends?

We have clearly lost the deeper meaning in our social interactions. Our senses are dulled. Our attention span is waning. True intimacy often scares us - yet human contact is the cornerstone of our emotional health. Isn’t it time to take responsibility for reclaiming our real connections if we plan to thrive?

We’re missing the healing powers of a handshake, a pat on the back, a hug or a kiss. We’re losing our ability to look into someone’s eyes and know how they’re feeling. We’ve buried our intuition - using our blackberry, rather than our gut, to clue in when something is wrong.

As we hide behind our personal devices, we’re slowly chipping away at our humanity, confusing - yes, even faking - our identities, feeling lonelier all the time. Our primal need to connect with others — to hear the tone in someone’s voice, to read their body language, to feel someone’s touch — is simply not being met.

We are SOCIAL beings. It is through REAL, IN-PERSON relationships that we learn, grow, and experience life. Isn’t it time to start taking responsibility for NOT allowing technology to control us? Isn’t it time to take responsibility for cultivating more in-person connections and fewer cyberspace ones?

So chat with your neighbor. Smile at someone on the subway. Get to know your barber or barista. Thank them. Offer a friendly exchange of words. Ask about their day. It’s a start to reclaiming a lost art.

Offer a dash of human kindness. An open heart. And know that how you treat others - will come back to you a million times over.

Call it social bonding. Call it social graces. Call it connecting. Whatever you call it, it’s taking responsibility for the quality of our social interactions. Live. In-person. Face-to-face. Something we all need a lot more of.