No Phone, No Problem

As I was debating what I wanted to focus on for today’s post I was toying around with the idea of talking about reducing time with technology or the effect that beardless Jamie Dornan (as his seen on EW’s cover as Mr. Grey) has to my psyche. I chose the former.

 

Today, since I was running late (college life!), I somehow managed to leave my phone at home and thus began an 8-hour long experiment. Sure I’ve given up my phone whether it was when I was a teenager as a punishment or if it somehow managed to find its way into my water-filled tub. I mean I start to freak out the minute I find out I’ve misplaced my phone, especially as of late as it’s become a large part of my life. I mean it has a huge responsibility to keep me company (via Tumblr because I will be forever alone), be my babysitter (by entertaining me through games that rhyme with “Randy Brush”), and of course be my personal assistant (Calendar, contacts, email, etc.). It is especially crucial for receiving and sending messages to group members as group projects are pretty prevalent in the coursework at the business school I attend.

 

It was one of the unplanned moments that happen to turn out better than if it were to be planned. I’ve had to prepare myself when I’ve gone camping with my family and you get no cell reception so it’s almost pointless to bring your phone. But even then it kind of just mocks you where you bring it to play games, but can’t be connected to the network to get your internet fixings. And this mockery, while a nice break from the highly digitalized world we are starting to live in also seems a little fake. While I knew it might be a problem given that people have come to expect a quick response from me, I felt that the spontaneity in leaving my phone at home really felt organic and allowed me to kind of just reset. While it may be a thing called “maturity”, I think in my case it ultimately just forced me to accept the situation and move on (I can be stubborn at times). This situation made me realize that I think I would be okay without the internet or a smartphone in a zombie apocalypse. At least that’s what I tell myself.

 

I did search for my phone when I got home, but in my defense it would be a fairly large cost to have it replaced due to contracts. It’s kind of a weird feeling seeing all the notifications that I had received throughout the day. I felt needed and trusted for one, and every now and then it’s just what you need to feel. But also, notifications are meant for instant gratifications and seeing them after the intended purpose almost gave a mini-out of body kind of experience.

 

In all, I survived the experiment and I know I would survive another day without it. I doubt I could go a whole week with the absolute absence of technology particularly the internet, but it would be another interesting experiment. I’ve often heard that it often simplifies life, especially if you disengage your social media outlets and I think that might be what the world needs: a time to digest, reset, and almost go backwards. Technology like many advancements also have negative aspects. As Ellen Degeneres puts it the heart of the matter really needs to be, “Be kind to one another.”

 

Would you last a day?

 

As always best wishes,

Tiffanie