Pre-GPS

“Take I-95 North. Look for signs for the Lincoln Tunnel.”

There weren’t many more directions on the piece of paper. I was sixteen years old, driving from Baltimore to New York City to visit one of my siblings.

I had to watch the fuel gauge; there weren’t lights or alerts to warn me when the tank was low.

I had to keep track of my speed; I didn’t have cruise control on that vehicle.

I had to watch the road signs and estimate my travel time; no GPS navigation back then.

I had to change the dial every so often to catch a local radio station signal; no satellite radio or podcasts.

Technology has connected us and given us more data than we can ever internalize. But it hasn’t always connected us to experience. In some ways, it allows us to disconnect. To stop watching. To stop paying attention.

But we can still curate moments where we rely on our senses. We can choose to look at signs instead of screens. We can choose to knock on a neighbor’s door. Or to hand-write a letter to a friend. Or to remember with our eyes instead of our cameras.

If only to remind us what it’s like — or to reconnect to our senses — we can every-so-often rekindle our interest in doing things in a distinctly human way.