The Lost Sound of a Human Voice
I had a birthday this month. Like most of us, my phone lit up.
Texts.
Notifications.
Emojis.
“HB!”
“🎉🎂”
“Hope it’s a great one!”
And I’m grateful. Truly. Every message matters. But here’s the thing…
I prefer phone calls.
A few years ago, I made a quiet decision:
If it’s your birthday, I’m calling you. And if you don’t answer? I’m leaving a voicemail.
Yes, it might sound 1990-ish.
But there’s a simple reason.
We spend so much time buried in our phones that we’re slowly losing the sound of each other.
Robots use API calls. Humans use their voice. And somewhere along the way, we started confusing efficiency with connection.
Texting Is Convenient. It’s Not Intimate.
When we text, we lose tone. We don’t know if someone is:
- excited
- tired
- emotional
- distracted
- struggling
- celebrating
We fill in the blanks ourselves. And usually… we fill them in wrong. A period at the end of a sentence suddenly feels cold. A delayed response feels intentional. A short reply feels dismissive. Text strips out emotion. Voice carries it.
When you hear someone laugh, pause, breathe, or crack slightly — you don’t need interpretation. You feel it.
And feeling is the point.
“Put Your Phone Away.”
I have this conversation all the time over dinner. “Put your phone away.” I’ll joke and say my phone stays on the table only because it will fall out of my pocket — and I don’t need another cracked iPhone back.
But the real reason?… Presence matters. We say we value connection, but we often choose distraction. Being “digitally connected” is not the same thing as being connected.
One is a signal. The other is human.
The Simple Rule
My rule is simple:
Be present. Be connected. Notice I didn’t say “be digitally connected.” This idea runs through so much of what I’ve written about leadership, gratitude, and growth.
We are wired for connection. We are born to look at faces. To hear tone. To feel energy. To sit across from someone and know they are there. No notification replaces that.
Why I Call
When I call you on your birthday, it’s not nostalgia. It’s intention. It’s saying: You matter enough for my time. You matter enough for my voice. You matter enough for a moment that isn’t optimized. Because in a world that runs on speed and swipes, slowing down is rare. And rare things carry weight.
This Isn’t Anti-Technology
I love technology. It’s part of my world. But technology should amplify humanity — not replace it. If we’re not careful, we become efficient communicators and shallow connectors.
Robots exchange data. Humans exchange emotions.
That’s the difference.
Try This
Next birthday that pops up on your calendar…
Call.
If they don’t answer, leave a voicemail. Let them hear your laugh. Let them hear your gratitude. Let them hear that they matter. You might feel awkward for 10 seconds. They’ll remember it for days. We don’t need less technology. We need more intention.
Be present. Be connected. And remember — connection is not something we download. It’s something we practice.
—Michael