You Are Here

According to a report published this week by the nonprofit group Common Sense Media, teens get 237 or more notifications on their phones each day -- a number that likely rivals many adults as well. The challenge comes when teens and adults alike are unable to turn off the barrage, concerned that they may miss something important or let someone down.

“Whereas a lot of adults might turn off notifications or shut their phones off while in class or an important meeting or while doing homework, teenagers tend to keep them on,”said John Duffy, a Chicago-based psychologist. “An impulse pulls them toward looking at every single notification. As a result, their attention is scattered.”

According to the study, that impulse is exhausting a generation of users who are striving to be savvy, when really our brains learn most effectively at a calmer pace: “Our brains operate at their best when the cognitive load — or the amount of information the brain is working to process — is low,” said Dr. Neha Chaudhary, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

When I was in Oxford, England, this past week leading a group of Portland Seminary doctoral students, we took one full day to practice an experience called "You Are Here." Instead of researching tour options and mapping a plan, my five students and I gathered after breakfast and set off on foot to explore ... with no plan at all other than to be fully present with one another and the city around us. Over the next 12 hours, we wandered through cathedrals, museums, universities, stores, and down curious back alleys. We stopped for coffee, lunch, high tea, dinner, and even an evening performance of Vivaldi.

Rather than perceiving the city around us as a tourist might, planning and timing things carefully so as to hit particular high points, we chatted as we walked, turning impulsively in new directions when a garden or store caught someone's eye. And -- best of all -- we had excellent conversations about the pressures of leadership, church denominations, cultural swings, historical tendencies, favorite books and movies, and even politics. We were fully present in the day together, and the exercise was deeply impactful.

It is difficult to discern God's voice when we are overwhelmed by the impulse to keep up with daily pressures. How present are you in your day today? What would it take to acknowledge your own presence in the moment, planting a "You Are Here" dot on this day and observing with all five senses the world around you?

Peace to you,

Jennie