Phones down, eyes up! We can limit our phone useage, it is possible!
I will be the first to admit that I don’t know how I would function without my cell phone. Literally. I lost it for about 45 seconds last week and my entire life flashed before my eyes. And by life, I mean passwords, screenshots, blog ideas, videos, saved text messages, inspirational quotes – you totally get it. Some days, I am hooked up to social media like an oxygen tank – mostly for work, but also for articles, ideas, group connections and, okay, general observations and occasional nosiness. (There’s no sense in me writing anything at all if I’m not going to be completely honest.)
But lately it’s been hitting me HARD: this whole “face-in-our-devices-so-we-don’t-have-to-enage-in-personal-contact” or “make-our-lives-look-perfect-on-the-outside-when-things-are-falling-apart-on-the-inside” kind of thing. (Sidebar: I just realized that hyphenating long descriptions might be the original hashtag.)
I was recently at the beach and everywhere I looked, people were face down into their phones instead of living their lives. I know we are desensitized to it, and it is what it is. but it doesn't have to be.
Maybe I was more sensitive to it because I wasn't working and trying to enjoy the miracles like waves and sand and real, live palm trees. Or maybe it’s because I turned another year older and I see and feel things even deeper. But maybe it’s because it’s getting worse. Much, much worse.
On that same trip, I watched a woman halt everyone at her table from digging in to the majestic mound of nachos they had obviously been waiting ions for so she could get the perfect angled-shot of those cheesy chili beauties. I bet $100 that the hash tags were #foodporn #vacationlife #mynachosarebetterthanyournachos. She took several selfies with her young daughters, prompting them to get off their phones and force “I’m really having a great time” smiles. The real kicker for me, however, was when she stopped the sweaty, in-the-weeds waiter to video her family in front of the erupting-volcano-margarita-making exhibit that only explodes every 30 minutes. If you are picturing this scenario you are realizing that nobody else could enjoy the volcano explosion because one mom needed proof that her family could seem happy together for a minute.
Is this the forever normal? Are we to expect it and even excuse it? It’s personal I guess, like everything else. I answer messages quickly so I don’t forget and look rude, I “like” posts because I want to show people I care about them and their lives, and I am rarely without my phone, particularly during work hours and when my child is out of my direct line of sight.
But I DO know I want to do less device-ing and more living. Can you imagine having to figure all that business it out while simultaneously dealing with puberty? It makes my head hurt. I am going to date myself here, but I didn’t have a cell phone or internet access until I was 27. TWENTY-SEVEN.
Let's make a pact. Let's get face to face with our friends, go out into nature with our phones put away, and get water and sunlight in the morning before we look at our screens. K? K.
We can’t control the way the world is moving, but we can certainly choose how we react to it and the way we want live in it. #I’mGoingToGetOffMySoapboxNowAndFoForAWalk.
