At first, I panicked, as one does when a drug is taken away. I scoured the house looking for it, frantically turning everything upside down. I wondered how I would survive without it. What would I do? This lasted the whole first day. The second day, the anxiety had diminished greatly. I had after all, survived a day without it. I had made it. I had taken any necessary phone numbers from my husband's phone the night before and used my house phone to make any calls I needed to make and the computer to message with people and let then know my phone was MIA and frankly, I was pretty thrilled about it.
Then came the big test. Going out without it. This was a huge deal for me because like most of us, I have not been out on my own without a phone in eons. Well, I did it and you know what? It was *excellent*. At first, I was fidgety at stoplights (the addiction thing again) but then, I was free. Freeeeeeee! Free from the compulsion to look and check. Free to be where I was and *only* there. Free to notice my world. My attention to my surroundings had noticeably sharpened and there was a huge sense of relief.
By day three, I had much more energy, much less anxiety.
Then on day four came a test. I was at the grocery store and I had bagged all my groceries (in my cloth bags, do it too!) and ready to pay and … declined … try again … declined … err, try this one … declined … and this is *just* as I was talking with the young girls at the cash, telling them how I had lost my phone and asking them if they ever went out without theirs (I'll write more on their answer in another piece).
So in the iPhone world, I would have taken the device out, gone on the app, figured it out on my own, paid, left. In my current iPhone free world, I had to drive back home! Can you imagine? So, the girls helped me and kept my cart in the fridge and I told them I would be back in an hour.
I went home, sang in the car on the way there, got on the computer once home, got some cash, my daughter wanted to come with me so we hopped in the car, sang on the way back to the store, we went in and the girls went to get my cart and voila.
So here is what happened. Instead of me having a solitary experience where I look down at my phone and push a few buttons and have a quick fix and save myself time for lord knows what (more time to spend on the phones most likely), I had a series of actual physical experiences where I connected with people and myself and life was more rich.
How many of these are we missing every moment for the sake of so called convenience and time saving? Ask yourself … for what …?
Another moment I had was when I made something special. A dish that meant something. In the iPhone world, I would have taken a photo, sent it to a bunch of people, gotten the nice texts in reply and that would be it. In my current iPhone free world, I will pack some up, get in the car and bring them to someone tomorrow who knows the meaning behind them. Again, a moment of a solitary experience, under the guise of being social, versus a real life experience in the world that requires effort and gives us so much more ...
So almost a week in without my iPhone, I have more energy than I can remember, my anxiety levels have drastically decreased, I feel more joyful, more alive in life, more creative, more social, less alone (strange right? not really ... I will write more on that) ...
I am fully where I am, everywhere I go. I am no longer tethered by countless invisible strings and possibilities encased in this tiny device that is made to keep us outside of ourselves and away from each other.
Stay tuned …
