What is a “Fake Empire”! … We’re half awake!

A few weeks ago, I received this video in my comment box along with a very brief  explanation that simply said, “You should blog this video,” from some guy by the name of Ryan Lewis.  That’s it.  No other explanation at all and no I don’t know who Ryan Lewis is.  Of course, at this point, however, my interest had been piqued and I was soon deep into his mini film.  Upon first view, I’ll admit I didn’t know what to think of Ryan’s production, only that he made some really good use of some beautiful stop motion photography and I sensed that he was attempting convey some profound message. I just didn’t know what it was.  At any length, I was further intrigued to perform due diligence on this cat and found that Ryan Lewis is actually a very talented, versatile and well rounded artist which is what persuaded me to honor the request and “blog this video”.  You see, Ryan Lewis is , not only,  a very skilled and creative photographer, but he’s also an audio producer… he makes beats, designs album covers and promotional fliers for artist as well… my kinda cat!!

I viewed his video for a second time on Thanksgiving morning, I awoke to my usual morning of getting straight to business- logging onto my laptop and grabbing my mobile, simultaneously.  It was time to clock in- log onto my blog, check my email,  glance through my text messages etc, get my day going with a cup of freshly brewed organically grown fair trade java and a whole world brought to me via cyberspace. After viewing, Ryan’s video, while, responding to more than a dozen well wishes for Thanksgiving, it dawned on me that while, I seemingly was more connected to the world, I was less connected to those who impact me most. Furthermore, I realized and actually came to grips that some of my connectivity was simply fake, I was no more than psuedo-connected to the vast majority of people with whom I was connecting, chatting, texting, emailing!  I accepted the fact that I knew no more about my cyber world than what it’s citizens wanted me to know. It was jolting to think that I interact with people on the daily whose voices I would never recognize, not to mention, whose faces I would not,  either; I share my views and opinions just like I am doing now with complete strangers more than I do my closest friends and family members. All this connectivity brought to us courtesy Myspace, Google, Gmail, Starbuck’s , etc., has silenced us, often has  kept us so busy trying to connect that we have not connected with those closest to us, our loved ones. Just like getting a card in the mail, or jotting down a note to a friend, or sending a letter to someone you love, plain old fashioned face to face communicating is becoming rarer and rarer as we become more and more intrigued, entranced, even, swallowed up by our cyberworlds. So on Thanksgiving, I put my cyberworld to the side for a few hours and gave thanks for being able to give and receive an actual hug, to laugh with my neighborhood, to sit down to dinner with friends and talk, to really connect with those who are important to me, the plain old fashioned face to face way, no waiting for a signal, no logging on, no dialing up, no texting, no transmission errors, no avatars. I could be experienced by the living, the breathing, the actual and moreover,  I could not be silenced, I was present and loving it, thanks to God and thanks to Ryan!