Journey Into the Unknown without your Phone

Journey into the unknown without your phone.
////

Journey into the unknown without your phone.
Scary isn't it?
What shall you do?
Talk a walk that isn't distracted?
Sip on coffee without that glaring screen?
Write a song?
Write freely without a goal?

At first it becomes a little unsettling. The discomfort of not having that rectangular computer like object when you need to run away from your thoughts. When you need that crutch. When you need that fix. What do you do?

Like flies to a light.

Do you reach for something else?
Do you look around the room for another distraction?

It's the...
(( Reach for the Rectangular Object ))

Like the call of the nicotine cylinder.

You can see it now.
Your lustful grabbing.
Your insatiable appetite to occupy your mind. The phone became your safety blanket. You were under the control of the magical device. You outsourced your cognition so that the phone could memorize what you didn't want to. You obeyed the convenience of the device. With a couple taps, you could connect with and friend, order food, play silly games and get enthralled wit the bells and whistles of the continuous "feed".

Your phone was the physical manifestation of certainty. The safety blanket that fit in your pocket. Your sense of security and identity.

You feel your heart skip a beat when you realize you forgot your phone. A jolt of worrisome energy courses down your spine. Where did your life force go? You have been cast into discomfort and anxiety. The phone became a part of you, didn't it?

An Auxiliary Limb. The technological modification for living in the rat race modern world.

Your phone was an exit strategy from the present moment.
Your phone was a quick retreat from discomfort.
A quick gift for your reward centers.

You have to ask yourself.
Does it serve me?
Or..
Does it serve your neurosis?

Or..
Do you serve it?
Do you always answer the call of its constant reminders of notifications?
Do you quickly reach for it when you have a thought or "inconvenient emotion" that is bugging you?

You just can't remember the name of that actor on the one tv show can you? It's driving you crazy. You must know now!!

A divine comedy.

Look how far we come. The world at our fingertips. Information at the flick of the wrist.

Can we sit or simply walk with that discomfort?

Like...
Take a walk without your phone.

When you go into the grocery store, leave it in car.

Try it.

"I mean is that smart phone even making you smarter?"

When you are driving your car, try putting it into the glove compartment?

Just try it?

Oh how lovely it is to cling to certainty. To have that safety computer in your pocket. To have access to things far away. But what about right in front of you? What about the people around you in the "real world"?
What about the ecosystem and the people living out their lives around you? Sharing the same air. Driving on the same roads.

What about the friends you have neglected?
What about the loved ones you lost touch with?
What about the squirrel chase you missed because you were on the phone?

What else have you missed??!?
What other wonderful ephemeral musings have you squandered by being seduced by a rectangular screen?!

Well what can you do?
Maybe be ok with not reaching for that device when you think you need it. What are some other options?

Well don't escape it silly!
Feel it out!
How does affect your body?
Feel that anxiety?
Good.
Some progress to be made.

Small steps go a long way.
Mistakes will be made.

DG