Say please & thank you, pick up after yourself, never talk back; these are the rules that I remember growing up with. However, in the last few years amidst the climb of the iPhone, as my family would get together each night for dinner the incessant rings, pings, and dings quickly became too much for my parents to bear so a new rule that would change the dynamic of our house forever was born: no phones at the table

Initially we all were shocked and it was difficult to conceive why our phones, which had become such a central fixture of our lives, were being taken away but after cycling through the 5 stages of grief all the way from denial to acceptance I realized that this seemingly impossible rule would prove to be one of my favorite.

I love my phone as much as anyone (to the point where my pocket feels wrong without it) and often find the argument that technology is ruining our lives quite upsetting due to all of the benefits of recent technological advances but setting my phone aside for an hour each night during dinner can only be described as freeing. So often nowadays it seems as though we are tethered to these devices and would have great difficulty going a week without them which to me begs the question ‘why?’ Why is it that we are constantly looking down at screens, are constantly counting likes, and are constantly moving our thumbs with speed and dexterity that I didn’t even know was possible? As a part of this group I honestly do not have the answer but what I do know is that somewhere along the road of snapstreaks and instagramming it seems as though we are more concerned with making memories out of pictures than pictures out of memories.

I am not advocating the complete deletion of social media or shutdown of your device but simply just for an hour or two a day, go out into the world and leave the distractions behind because you never know what you may find. Spending that hour each night with my whole family has become one of my most cherished memories not because I put it on my snap story, but because of its simplicity and its intimacy. It is where I laughed with them, shared with them, grew with them, and had true personal connection with them which is something that is all too rare these days.

Though initially “no phones at the table” may have seemed impossible, I will forever be grateful to my parents for that rule because it brought a small piece of humanity back into a world that desperately needs it. While I’m glad you’ve read my story, please look up now. You’ll be glad you did.