Person #1: "How are you?"
Person #2: "Busy! You?"
Person #1: "Same here!"
What is that? That's not a conversation. No depth was reached and no real connection was made.
We are living in a society that is so busy that we don't take time for deep conversations, or even proper amounts of sleep. Heck, half the time people aren't even focused on the tasks at hand that require full attention, such as driving a motor vehicle!
When did we feel the need to have stores open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? When did we suddenly feel the need to have CONSTANT access to entertainment, news, and games? Maybe there isn't an EXACT DATE when this all happened, but I've watched this new lifestyle phase into popularity over the last 20 years and I've seen the damage it has done to people of all ages.
The truth is that both rest and stillness lead people towards many amazing things. It helps us heal emotionally and physically. Quiet and still moments where we can savor life deepen relationships and strengthens our connection to a higher power. It brings about less anxiety and more peace.
I don't know how we can rewind and go back to the time that sitting on the front porch listening to the wind in the trees (without an electronic device in hand) was a perfectly acceptable activity. However, I do believe it's time to take a step back and reconsider the glorification of "busy" before we all burn out from the lack of rest.