“The Paradox of our Age” by the 14th Dalai Lama

I saw the below wise words printed on a scroll in a Tibetan gallery in Santa Fe.  While I didn't purchase the print, I wish I had, so I could post it in my home (thankfully, I could relocate the words on the internet). In any case, I sat there and felt deeply understood as I read the poem. I am constantly struggling in this age trying keep my family living and practicing a meaningful life, one in which we aren’t held hostage by the distractions of screens and too much activity or too many belongings, but rather living in a way in which we prioritize healthful food, wholesome fun, and deep (face-to-face) relationships like I remember from my childhood and young adulthood. I sometimes feel that life was just simpler and people were much happier in a time before we were faced with the challenges of intrusive technology, social media, culture wars, and too many choices. It's hard and exhausting to constantly fight upstream against the waves and current leading individuals and society in one direction, but oh-so-important.

We have bigger houses but smaller families; 
more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense;
more knowledge but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicines but less healthiness.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble in crossing the street to meet our new neighbor.

We built more computers to hold more copies than ever,
but have less real communication;
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall men but short characters;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.

It’s a time when there is much in the window but nothing in the room.