How I Fell in Love With Faces

There's something really really awful about technology. Now, before you get your panties all tied up in a bundle and start rattling off reasons why technology has transformed the world for the better....hold that thought. Because I agree with you. Technology has unified our world and enhanced medicine and communication and transportation and education. It has. And we are so thankful and we are proud of ourselves. But for just a few minutes, bear with me and play the Devil's advocate. Just for a few minutes.

Technology down right sucks.

It sucks because it has turned people into plastic. It has turned faces into screens. It down-right sucks because it has turned smiles and hugs and kisses and laughter into emojis. It just stinks.

The internet has changed how we think and we feel and we act and how we value others. This is one of the main reasons why, upon my return to the States, I constantly roll my eyes at Americans. It takes months for me to overcome the culture shock America throws in my face. Put a screen between myself and the world and then I'll never be vulnerable.

This morning on my way up to work, I realized no one makes small talk in elevators anymore. Their eyeballs are glued to their tiny little hands that hold something so valuable that we have created support groups and rehab programs for it. And we call them Apples. 

The most important lesson I ever learned in Uganda is this one. I learned how to be still. That is now my favorite word in the entire English dictionary (margarita coming in at a close second, or is that Spanish?).

Be still.

In Uganda I was forced to slow down my mind. And it took a few days to calm down my restless, racing thoughts. I had no idea how fast my brain was working! It was like an iPhone with all of its apps running at once. In Kishanje I only had myself, the scenery, and the people in front of me. And that is how I fell in love with faces.

I learned how to make eye contact. How to be attentive to body language. How to listen. I learned how to start a conversation with a stranger, create small talk and then how to build relationships. In person. Face-to-face. I spent the days watching the trees blow in the wind. I watched crawling children learn to walk like drunken sailors. I sat with people in silence because I did not speak Rukiga, waiting for the intial awkwardness to be overcome by giggles. I became perceptive and sensitive and intuitive. I gave public speeches. I prayed out loud. I butchered the Rukiga language. I danced in front of a hundred people. I studied brows and cheekbones and chins and lips and big brown eyes. I noticed long eye lashes and cheeky dimples, stared at smiles and witnessed tears. Watching the faces of people I was falling in love with communicate with me in a new way.

A hand on my shoulder. A wink. A blush. A hand holding mine. It was physical and romantic and comforting and authentic and honest and silent connection.

We didn't speak the same language. But I learned a new language all in its own. My mind learned how to be still, but my heart burst.

Folks, I love you. Learn how to be still.