This time I decided to stare at my powered down iPhone 6s. I realized, especially this past semester, I have been checking social media a lot more than I usually do. I don't know if it's because we are currently in the throes of a Presidential election or my new love for snapchat, I am always checking my phone. So I definitely needed time to reflect on my obsession with this tiny device. When I had to stare at my TV last semester it took awhile for me to settle and stop worrying about all the work I had to do, but this time I was ready and calm very early into staring at my phone. Having my phone turned off and not buzzing with notifications is oddly calming like you have less worries. It's like when you go on a cruise and you have to turn off your phone because there is no cell service on open waters or when you have to turn your phone on airplanes mode on an airplane because it could disrupt the planes instrumentation (not really). Not having a phone forces you to find a new way to connect to the people in your immediate vicinity and have conversations, or go to sleep on the plane so no one talks to you. Staring at the blank screen of my phone made me think about how much I rely on it to maintain my relationships and friendships. When I have to talk to someone I send a text, Facebook message, or SnapChat. Or sometimes when I am with a group of friends and we use our phones to show each other funny memes or talk about a certain topic. If my phone was permanently removed from my life, would I talk as often as I do with my friends now? Would I even know how to get in contact with them? I started to remember the times in middle school (before cell phones) when we would just see our friends at school every day and then when summer break started and we no longer had to see each other every day so we would stop talking. Then school would start up again and if you didn't have the same class with those people you would lose touch and not talk anymore. Our phones have given us this new ability to stay constantly connected with the people close and far from us. Without the phones would we still be able to maintain the relationships we have or are some of them phone dependent?
Lately I've been trying to separate myself from my phone. I used to feel like it was an extension of myself, and that I couldn't go anywhere without it. Disconnecting has been really hard... it's like a physical impulse to reach for your phone. It's a slow process, I've been trying for probably two months now and I'm barely past the point of being to not be in the same room as my phone. But I'm definitely noticing the benefits! Much more genuine conversation, fewer distractions, ability to focus on the present moment. It's really a worthwhile thing to try!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand that it gave you anxiety because it gave me anxiety too. I was think about what I need to do other than just looking at my phone for 25 mins. Like I started thinking about my grades in my classes, how I need to study for my classes for my finals. Manly just about school in genreal.
ReplyDeletegirllll, me to! I started to stress more thinking about the other things I had to more when I actually had to sit and think about everything that has to be done ad when they are due, I feel as though our phone are our stress reliever so we don't have to worry about what we have to do personally and can focus on what other have to do!
ReplyDeleteCool reflections. If phones disappeared, we'd still have the internet. But if it all disappeared...maybe back to the dark ages of BBSes and Morse code. It's been neat to read how yall have thought about the UnScreen exercise differently from last semester!
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