We doth protest too much, methinks

I'm sure you know... I'm a busy person.  We're all busy people.  Most of us have plenty of people in our lives; colleagues, family, friends, people we say hello to when buying coffee, people we talk to on facebook or on the phone etc.  We're surrounded by people, via technology, in person or otherwise.

What interests me is the theory that despite the fact we've got more people around us who we can talk to, what our generation (Gen Y) is beginning to really lack, in our busy lives, is that person to person meaningful quality time that we crave so much from our childhood with those we love and hold close to our hearts.

Some of my favourite weekends are hours spent in living rooms or kitchens of girlfriends houses (or my own) or a long night out just chatting, drinking and eating with nowhere to go and no urgency or purpose to the catch up - it's just because.  It's therapeutic for the soul.  That's also what I enjoy most about going home and seeing my family.  My favourite times with them are spent one on one with no purpose other than to just enjoy quality time, but it's always so infrequent.

It is that which is familiar to our generation and many generations before us.  We have seen a huge communication shift in such a short period of time (which might I add we have been early adopters of).  While we sprout off about the convenience of blackberrys, iphones, email, skype, facebook, blogs, google and twitter, the reality is we seek that person to person time, to really connect, to unwind, to be in our natural state - perhaps as was properly intended for us, from the dawn of time.  Will the following generations (like my neice or nephew to be - yes I am going to be an aunty) whose impending births are announced on facebook, seek, need, want and miss the human connection element or are we predisposed to it?

Here's what I think:

1. Person to person contact is necessary - it's a human thing
2. Quality person to person contact is absolutely vital
3. There are some special people in your life who you REALLY need preson to person quality time with
4. Without it we feel alone in the world
5. I feel half of myself without it

Does this just apply only to me? to women? do you feel lonely without that quality person to person contact? How does it affect you, if it affects you at all?

My experience of late is that when I am in the study bubble, I can't make plans, spend long chunks of time or do anything other than sit myself at the desk and try to focus.  It's only been a month of that and I am exhausted, drained and lonely.  I've seen plenty of people, had lots of chats, been more in contact with people than ever before - note my $280 phone bill last month! yikes! but it is incredible how disconnected you feel when you are in every sense - connected.

I think Gen Y will always yearn for some person to person quality time - no matter how much we harass our parents to adopt internet banking, email and skype.  We doth protest too much, methinks.  What we really want is the connection and no amount of email, facebook, skype or otherwise is going to replace it.

Hope you are spending quality time with loved ones, particularly this weekend, on Mother's Day.

Elle