In the last ten to fifteen years, phones have brought us much in the way of advancement and connectivity, but also enslaved us to the phone itself, and to multitasking.
Phones are fragmenting our very being. We are half here, half there. We're having multiple text conversations at once, while doing a few other tasks.
We live a rapid existence that is addicting and requires constant speed.
I used to love to journal. Now too often I struggle to
make the timefor it. It's tough to get three pages of long hand writig in without some distracting thought that requires activity on my phone. It has become a huge challenge to "ignore the call" of this tiny little rectangle.
How can something so little command so much of our lives?
Sometimes I fantasize about life without my phone and imagine the time I would suddenly have back.
My phone is:
- entertainment
- distraction to avoid scary tasks and
- a convenient remedy for indecision and lack of planning.
If I'm not sure what to do next, there's always plenty of to-do's that I can do from my phone. I feel busy and forget to decide what I really want to do with my time.
For some, it's the "news" that sucks you in. My hubby takes breaks to read the "news," but even that has become more like reading a gossip magazine, with titillating titles and sensational stories meant to hold us hostage.
Who isn't affected? Maybe the oldest of us haven't all fallen in this trap of technology. Or maybe even some of them have?
My dad pretty much uses his phone for calls and texts, and he enjoys looking at photos that people sent him. My mom is big on YouTube for sermons, investing advice and music. Those are all good things in moderation.
I think if I didn't have a cell phone, I could live twice the life in the same amount of time while remaining present—being where my feet are. I could paint and write more, cook more often, connect better and rest enough. Maybe even have more fun.
But wait, would living without my phone simply draw me back to my PC for hours at a time like it once did? Or my laptop? It's possible.
The email app on my laptop no longer works. I lament about having to log into the Internet to get to my email. It takes about twenty seconds longer, but it feels like ten minutes and is a huge convenience. Oh we are spoiled by speed!
I remember a therapist once telling me that's it's my speed that gets me into trouble. I wish I could remember the full context, but I'm sure it was about my need to slow down and pause—to respond instead of react.
Okay soooo....
The phone isn't the enemy. I am in charge of me and how I use my time.
For today, I choose to be free of addictive patterns and avoidant behavior. I choose to slow down and breathe. I choose presence and people over fractured states of being. Join me?
