Emotional connection is built when eye contact is made.
Penny Webb
Have you considered how screens are taking over the essential connection with our loved ones?
I truly realised this a few years ago when, even though I was in the same room with my teenage daughter, we both had phones in our hands and we were having a sporadic, casual conversation, but there was no eye contact because the screens had the attention of our eyes.
I went into a coffee shop before work the other day and decided not to take my phone to check the news. I sat there waiting for my takeaway long black and observed twelve people also waiting for their coffee – all were on their mobile phones. I thought to myself – boy, if I was in the market for a partner, the lack of opportunity to catch a person’s eye and smile or strike up a conversation was negligible!
The reality is that there is an evidenced decline of eye contact with others because we spend more and more of our time staring at screens which means there is less time to look into people’s eyes – including those we really, really care about.
We stare at computers during our workday, we regularly check our phones, we watch individual movies, series and media on our computers… we are almost super-glued to screens.
What is being drawn from the research is that the reduced eye contact during conversations is negatively affecting our relationships because emotional connection is built when eye contact is made. So the less eye contact, the less connection.
Note to Me: I absolutely must put the screens away when I am with my girl and my loved ones so I can meet their eyes.
No Regrets
Penny