The Digital Citizens

I think about death a fair amount; it’s a strange and not entirely unwelcome side effect of working at Legacy.com. My job makes me think about life more and encourages me to unplug, slow down and live.

Since Jan. 1, 2015, I’ve been interviewing one person each day about the meaning of life. Mostly total strangers. The Meaning of Life Project is my way of sharing what I've learned.

I think about death a fair amount; it’s a strange and not entirely unwelcome side effect of working at Legacy.com. My job makes me think about life more and encourages me to unplug, slow down and live.

On the flipside, I’ve become more aware of things that hinder this type of mindfulness. One of those things is technology; our ever-present devices monopolize our attention, acting as both enabler and tyrant.

This month, inspired by these musings and keen to find better ways of living with technology, I focused my interviews on “digital citizens.” There’s a range of technological comfort reflected in the interviews, from an Uber driver who embraced mobile tech simply a way to make a living to executives who have built online publishing empires. In each interview, though, there was a common thread of daily work driven by technology.

Thank you all for taking the time to connect in an old-world way, helping me capture your inspiration on paper at a satisfyingly slow speed.

Female, 27

“Relationships and love are the meaning. When my husband's grandfather was passing away we all stood around and he said “This is what it's about: family and your relationships. I'm not going to be here. You have to continue this on.”

I'm trying to slow it down.