Life lessons at a farm in the digital age

A visit to the farm on a Friday afternoon turned out to be a lesson for me and not just my two-year-old.

As visible in the photo shown above, in spite of the big signs everywhere, I saw people feeding goats and clicking photographs.

To cut a long story short, I am guilty of not noticing the sign myself (for the first two minutes of standing there) because the first thing I thought of, the moment I saw the goats, was my phone.

As soon as my daughter saw another family doing it, she started to do the same.

In her defence, the child was so joyful while feeding the animals and second, the animals seemed to love it too (not their fault!).

It was only after I realized my own mistake and then pointed it out to the family, did these people stop feeding the animals.

So I gave them a benefit of doubt, owing to my own guilt and wondered what made us blind to the big signage right in front of our eyes.

Technology has an ugly side and it is at its ugliest when it impacts nature. (I can’t help but notice so many people are now only interested in clicking that perfect picture, without even understanding the environment they are in). We are so obsessed with the online world that even when we are not online, WE ARE!

I love indulging in nature photography and of course, documenting my child’s growing years. But this episode made me perceive the importance of being in the moment.

If at the farm, first soak in all that it has to offer! Take out your phone only when you’ve truly given your eyes a treat! You know what I mean?

Breathe, smell, taste the wind. And then maybe click a few photographs to document what you just experienced. That’s how I want to visit places now. Not armed with my camera, but with my heart and my eyes.

Another point I have to make here is that if you witness a wrong in society, please do not shy away from pointing it out. It might not be affecting you or your loved ones directly but it is. Oh IT SO IS. Because we keep forgetting that we ARE the society.

Let’s teach our children the importance of speaking out when they see something wrong happening around them. More important is to show them how to point it out in a sensitive/compassionate manner. Let the world know that when you’re right, you should have all the courage to say it. Because you must. Because there is no other time to be courageous than NOW.

It is easy and human to develop arrogance about the little goodness that we are able to push to the forefront in our lives on a daily basis. It’s easy to judge those who we know are doing the wrong thing, but please take a moment to think where is this pride coming from? A place of compassion or a place where you feel superior because you can see something for what it is and the other can’t?

Do not forget that change starts with you and not with you identifying a problem and pointing fingers at everyone else for it.

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