Where Did the Depth Go? A Reflection on Love and Meaning in Today’s Society

By Jerod Simon

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We live in a world more connected than ever before—pinging notifications, endless content, constant engagement. But beneath the surface of this hyper-connected reality, something vital feels missing: depth. Real depth. The kind you feel in conversations that linger, in eyes that truly see you, in love that isn’t transactional but transformational.

It’s like we’ve traded richness for speed. Everything’s optimized—attention spans, interactions, even relationships. We swipe, scroll, skip. People don’t take the time to know each other anymore. We’ve mistaken proximity for intimacy and performance for authenticity.

Love today often feels more like a brand than a bond. We chase aesthetics over substance, mistaking curated affection for genuine connection. Somewhere along the way, we forgot that love is not meant to be convenient. It’s meant to be real, raw, and sometimes messy. But now, the moment love requires sacrifice, patience, or effort—we ghost, we bounce, we label it as “toxic” just because it’s hard.

What happened to soul-deep conversations that stretch past midnight? Or sitting in silence with someone and still feeling full? Or loving someone not for what they give you, but for who they are, at their core?

We’ve become fluent in surface, and illiterate in depth. We fear stillness because it reveals how shallow we’ve become. We fear commitment because it asks for more than we’re used to giving.

But I believe we can find our way back. Depth isn’t dead—it’s just been drowned out. And love, real love, still exists. But it’s quiet. It doesn’t yell for attention on timelines. It doesn’t demand likes. It shows up consistently, courageously, in the little things: the unasked-for hug, the call just to check in, the truth told even when it’s hard.

So here’s the challenge: go deeper. Be intentional. Ask the second question. Sit with discomfort. Choose love, even when it’s inconvenient. Because in a society starving for depth, being real is the most rebellious thing you can be.

—Jerod Simon