Exchange

Here’s my take on exchanges in life…

We all need things to live, and we also want things. Some of which we can provide for ourselves, whereas others we cannot. Hence, our need to engage in exchanges with other people.

First & foremost, there are simply social exchanges of being in each other’s presence.

And then there are communication exchanges, the exchange of goods & services, learning exchanges and working & playful exchanges made through these social exchanges.

And all of the above, in my opinion, are necessary for life.

Unfortunately, however, with the dawn of the digital age, this generation has been groomed to conduct most, if not all, of these types of exchanges on-line. And I’m afraid our society is being greatly harmed as a result.

Living in a Big Digital World

Search engines and social media channels deliver massive amounts of information as well as commercial opportunities. And nearly everyone & everything is connected to & through the world-wide web these days.

Websites, marketplaces, store front and social media profile pages are all available to be viewed 24/7. And the entities or people behind our screens don’t actually have to be on-line at the moment we see their facades for us to engage with their content.

I venture to guess most of us now conduct most of our affairs online. This includes our communications, economic exchanges, information-, instruction- & news- gathering and endless entertainment.

And naturally, with all the multi-media streaming applications at our fingertips, our attentions are continually being grabbed & then glued to our individually customized screens.

Virtually Connected While Miles Apart

When it comes to our human relations online, I have to wonder these days how much of what we see on our screens is actually depicting physical reality and/or generated by human beings.

Thankfully, we are still able to find & relate to human beings to some degree and consume human generated content. And I’m grateful that we can still establish and develop personal ties with other people through this venue.

However, given this virtual forum of human social exchange, our closest friends, business associates, storekeepers, customers and/or clients may be physically tens, hundreds, and even thousands of miles away and living in a whole other physical reality from us.

While we can feel connected with those with whom we see & engage regularly online, either on a mental or emotional level — or both, if we become disconnected from the Internet & cell services for too long, we can easily feel completely alone. Because we physically are.

Physically Surrounded but Worlds Apart

Unfortunately, though, thanks to this modern digitally mobile age, even if we’re physically surrounded by people, we can often still feel alone.

Why? I think it’s because either:

• We don’t know and/or understand (beneath the surface) the people around us (and/or they don’t know and/or understand us),
• We don’t see eye-to-eye with those around us about things that matter most to us, or
• We operate in very different physical realities from one another.

And if and/or when we attempt to communicate with these people, they can seem alien to us. Because they’ve been exposed to a whole separate body of information & circle of influences (and they’ve engaged with a whole other set of people) than what we’ve been exposed to & engaged with.

We truly live in vastly different worlds than many of our neighbors physically living right next door to us.

In my view this kind of society is unsustainable.

Living in a Bigger Natural World

I firmly believe we need to get back to a more natural way of life.

I’m not saying modern technology and the Internet are all bad. But from what I can see, the way these things are being used by-and-large in the modern age is destroying our society.

However, I do believe our society (or at least portions of it) can be repaired/healed by people returning to a more natural order of things. [<– Please click to read this if you haven’t done so already.]

And I’m personally dedicated to pursuing that aim — for the sake of this generation and the generations to come.

Communicate With Us

WiggleCulture.com is our on-line presence, and we are using it as a form of personal outreach to our fellow man.

If you would like to reach back to connect and/or engage in some sort of exchange with me or my husband, either on-line or off, please contact me. We’d love the opportunity to communicate with you.

Thank you for taking the time and lending your attention to read my take on exchanges in life. See what I have to say about learning.

[This page was written by Carrie (not Kelly) and last updated on 10/25/25.]