In today’s society, the youth is often observed to be pre-occupied with their gadgets. People are busy with typing, replying, tweeting, and many other social media activities. The shift in lifestyle undoubtedly changed many things in this generation’s interpersonal and intrapersonal relationship. Yes, I believe that modernization made life seemingly fast-paced and spontaneous, without time to sit and think about things in a serious manner. Is there any more time for personal reflection? I think there is because a reflection is a personal act that allows people to connect with reality and understand each experience in life. I know that no high-end application can replace true reflection. I observe that at times social media does affect reflection and serious thinking because it divides a person’s attention. Sometimes, social media can be a distraction. But how can students still have time to reflect? As a student, I am vested with many roles; I have my family life, academic life and social life to think about. I am also a user of social media. I do not see anything wrong with using social media, but it must come with moderation. As the saying goes, too much of anything is dangerous. I think that the first thing to consider when using social media is what are the benefits that I can gain from sitting in front of my gadgets for majority of my day?
Social media and instant communication, at times promote nonsense conversation and unintelligible discussion, because people are always in a rush to respond without thinking deeply of the words they will utter. Words are powerful, once they are mentioned; it is difficult to retract them. Social media and instant messaging made communication easier and faster but as a consequence people rush their words without careful consideration of their possible consequences once publish or posted. We are always reminded to be responsible for our actions but when we rush things we tend to forget the possible magnitude of our actions. It is mentioned in Philosophy, that people move in the social sphere, where directly or indirectly our actions will affect other people. Some people do things without regard to other people; I find it wrong and at the same time selfish.
Creativity is also affected because of the fast pace lifestyle, for instance some students may rush their school works for the mere purpose of compliance without regards to the lessons they learn along the process. At times, they submit rush academic works because they feel they need to do it because they need to pass. I do not blame them because honestly at times I have the same mentality. But I know it is wrong because it beats the entire purpose of learning. Learning is not always about the grades but rather about the other life essentials picked up from each activity and the requirement.
I understand the importance of reflection. First, it is a way to achieve personal growth because I can internalize and link my experiences to my life to see what are the possible lessons I can take away from different situations. Reflection helps me make sense of the things happening around me. Without reflection, activities and situations are only passing trend in my life. However, I must admit that it is difficult to find time for personal reflection because most of the time I am pre-occupied. But as I mentioned earlier, it is important to devote time to internalize and silence. Sometimes it is relieving to have time for silence amidst the noise in society. It is important to think carefully about things. No matter how small or simple, actions and words can change the course of one’s life for good.
I believe that despite the hectic lifestyle, I can still find time to reflect and think intelligently. First, I need to find time. Time is essential in reflection; I need to properly define my priorities and I must include personal time as part of my priorities. Another is that instead of looking at social media and instant messaging as a disadvantage, I think we can use them to benefit our lives more. We can use them to increase our creativity because of the many possibilities they offer. Students can devote little minutes of their free time to reflecting. I believe that it is not the span of reflection that is important rather the quality of it. Every time we find ourselves doing nothing, I think we must use the time given to internalize. It is important to remember that reflection is a personal action that no one can perform on our behalf because it is only us who can make sense of the things that occurred in our life. Reflection can serve as a moment of refuge to come closer to oneself. I know it is difficult because of the other considerations I need to keep in mind. Time is always an issue, but I believe that if I want genuine reflection I will make time for it.
