I opened my Google alerts today and found an article from Psychology Today on mobile technology and corporate culture, which reinforced  my own view from recent experience that the ease and automatic nature of email and text to communicate  while planning (either a family event or something in the larger community) leaves something of the breath and life out of preparations and that the lack of personal interaction can show in the liveliness, or lack thereof, in the end product.

It isn’t that there is anything inherently wrong with using technology to set dates, do the fundamental work of getting together. It just leaves something out if it isn’t in balance with in-person interaction.

For me, the basic issue becomes: how to make room for the face-to-face, how to make the human tone of voice and presence a priority as a vital ingredient in the relationships and work that we claim to value.