The End of The Affair?

It’s interesting to read in the news today that our love affair with Facebook may be waning. Nearly half of Australian users say that they’ve been thinking about closing their accounts. And while usage is certainly not dropping, more and more of us are complaining that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all of the other social media websites are too addictive, causing us to waste too much of our time online in a virtual world, suspended from the world we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch.

I very much doubt that people are going to start abandoning Facebook in droves – but it highlights a common issue in today’s society. Our lives are so busy, so stressful and so fast that we often miss out on those simple, pure, ecstatic moments. We connect via email or txt instead of emotion or touch. We inhabit a virtual world instead of connecting in the physical one.

You only need look around you, on the streets, on trains, in cafes and at work to see how many people have their heads down, buried in their IPads or their smart phones, busily clicking away on our rosary beads for the 21st century, often ignoring what’s going on around them.

Yet, for many of us, it can feel like something is missing. Like bingeing on junk food, the more we consume, the more we crave. We try to fill that empty space. And life starts to lose its depth and meaning.

So it’s no coincidence that sex plays such an important role in our world – and that even when it’s just plain average or routine, sex is still so popular. It’s all around us, on our TVs and computer screens, in our books and magazines, on our streets and in our bars and clubs, whispering seductively from every corner of our lives.

As humans, we’re hardwired to seek out pleasure – to experience those blissful moments that take us beyond the everyday and allow us to expand, connect and reach new heights. When so many other aspects of our lives seem superficial or ‘virtualised’, sex promises pleasure, euphoria and the chance to transcend our everyday lives, even for just a few brief moments.

So while Facebook may promise to help us connect and share with the people in our lives, sex offers the opportunity to experience all the meaning, joy and connection that the virtual world often denies us. Forget money, power or even the internet. It’s sex that truly makes the world go round!