Serendipity Lost

I feel a bit sorry for millennials.  Born into the age of smartphones and social media, they will rarely experience unplanned moments in their daily lives. Technology has given us the opportunity to both foresee and control almost everything we experience on a given day. Without the need to even step out of bed, we can see the temperature outside and the latest news (fake or real) with a mere touch of a button on our smartphone. While it’s very convenient to have information at our fingertips, we have also lost an important element that not only makes life more enjoyable but also teaches us an important lesson. When was the last time you were driving and one of your favorite songs came on the radio? Chances are that song is probably on your playlist and you can access it whenever you want. I remember my days in college, going out with my girlfriends and wondering if our current crushes would be at the club that night. It was the feeling of not knowing if you would see them or not that made the going out even more exciting. These days, you can stalk your crush on any of their social networks since they are likely documenting their every move. Serendipity has been all but lost and it’s made us even more anxious as we don’t have many opportunities to learn that control is mostly an imaginary concept. Without these small daily opportunities to experience the uncontrollable in natural ways, we are left shell-shocked when life invariably throws a curve ball our way.