Like so many people, I left my parents, extended family, and hometown to go away to college, then relocated for adventure and a job. This has been followed by time away from my own children/friends/loved ones as I travel for work, work too much, attend events, etc. Though I miss them, achingly sometimes, I know that they are there for me and I keep myself sane with the plan that someday, sometime soon, I will spend more quality time with them.

This video, by Leo Burnett Madrid for Ruavieja, turned that achy feeling into a sharp pang in my gut. The social experiment shows friends and loved ones together, acknowledging how much they care about each other and how much they love to be together. The video then shows a scientific calculation of just how little time these people will have with each other in the future (and contrasts it with the massive amount of time they will spend on devices). The combination of a strong emotional premise, the desire to be with the ones we love and an equally strong scare tactic — we will die without seeing them much — may just be a magical behavior-changing recipe.

This video got me thinking more about my parents across the country, who I never see enough, and my kids, who I rarely sit down with, and all the other people (nearby friends included), that I love and seldom see other than digitally. Would I use the online tool to calculate how much time I have left with them? No way, I don’t have the stomach for that truth. But I am looking forward to traveling to Seattle more frequently to see my mom and dad, and having many more dinner parties, hang-out sessions, and face-to-face contact. And sooner than someday, sometime.

This article originally appeared in the February 7, 2019 issue of The Drum