You have already seen this image perhaps, 1,000 times over, and so if you’ve already commented and shared it you can move along, but I have come back to this image more than a few times over the past few days – I can’t seem to “land” on what I really think about this comparison.
The 8 years of difference, technologically, is obvious – the crowd in 2005 is waiting patiently with only a handful of mobile devices lit up (that we can see). The recent wait for the new Pope announcement (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) shows a very different crowd – one that’s swollen with mobile devices and digital tablets.
I have read articles on how this is “incredibly sad” and is a sign of the coming apocalypse – how we cannot be fully present anymore and simply enjoy the mystery around this event.
I have not read many articles sharing how neat this is and how fortunate we are to have technology that can communicate to thousands, millions rather, who cannot be here to experience the event but will be able to via digital communication devices.
Sure, I struggle just like many of you to be “fully present” and to appreciate the “now” and the moment as it is. But I do not regret or am I ashamed that we live in a digital world where sharing experiences in this form and through these mediums are an important and integral part of our lives.
In fact, it’s becoming part of the literal fabric and I do not see that as necessarily evil or bad. I see it as contextually relevant to who we are as people and the tools that we use in today’s modern existence.
I’m so thankful that I get to live in today’s economy and consider myself blessed to be a part of this particular point in history. It’s hard to imagine any other time where I could make a living off of the things that I love and do. I have nothing but gratitude and images like St. Peter’s Square excite me to no end.
It’s really just begun.
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