Francois Keyser's Blog - Posts Tagged "smartphones"

I recently spent a long time away from my family as I went home to visit my parents. On the flight to reunite with my wife and children I watched "Interstellar" which perhaps because of the point I was at in my life, touched me personally from a number of perspectives.

I have since watched it again and am still as touched, if not more so, than when I watched it the first time.

Those who have watched "Interstellar" will perhaps be able to relate to this.

Cooper, played by Mathew McConnaughey, leaves earth on a mission to find a new earth for the human race who have to leave a dying earth in order to survive as a species.

Cooper is absolutely adored by his daughter, Murph who does not want him to leave on the journey he undertakes and refuses to speak with him as she feels he has deserted her.

Despite assuring Murph of his return, Cooper leaves earth knowing full well that he will be away from his family for a long period of time. He is driven by the aim to complete the mission as soon as possible and return to his family.

The movie makes us aware of the difference in the passage of time in deep space due to a number of factors including proximity to a black hole relative to the passage of time on earth.

Ultimately Cooper returns to earth physically younger than his daughter Murph but older in actual earth time.

Despite his intention of returning as soon as possible perhaps with the hope of still being a father to his children, this does not happen. This demonstration in the passage of time combined with my own time away from my family brought home to me the importance of spending as much time with your children and loved ones as possible. In today's rat race we seldom realise how fast time goes by and when we finally realise how much time has passed, it is often too late in so many ways.

Our parents have grown older and often we may neglect them and friends as we are so wrapped up in our own lives and getting what we want which seems to be a never ending job in itself.

So often we listen to our loved ones with half an ear or with our faces buried in our smartphones or tablets which we give more importance than our loved ones in these modern times.

When we finally realise how much time has gone by, that our children have grown up and how little we have actually been involved in their lives, we are not only saddened but also too late to give to them the parts of ourselves that they deserve. This time can never be won back by us or any speed through which we travel through space.

So next time, when our children, parents or partners call for our attention, lets turn off the TV and put down our smartphones and enjoy all the time we can with our loved ones before it is too late one way or another.

There is truly no greater joy than that which we derive from being with loved ones ...