Imagining a life without wifi seems foreign to me.
Everywhere I go people talk on their phones, Snapchat, or scroll through Instagram. It has always annoyed me when I was talking with someone, and they check their phone. I am a strong advocate for disconnecting. However, I was not aware of how reliant I actually am for fast wifi.
As someone who enjoys peace and quiet and hates checking my phone or email. Embarrassingly enough, I am known amongst my friends as hard to reach, simply because I hardly ever have my phone on me. Knowing this about myself I assumed a life without internet would be one I easily enjoyed. However, since I have been studying abroad the wifi situation has been inadequate, to say the least, and I have been very frustrated about it. I had no idea how much I depended on the high-speed internet until I didn't have it.
Checking emails.
Face-timing friends and family.
Keeping up with all of my Netflix shows.
Writing on my blog.
Scrolling Pinterest.
Posting on Instagram.
All of these things are a part of my daily life.
Suddenly everything that I did when I got home I could no longer do. Naturally, of course, I grew excessively irritated at the slowness of the wifi.
Yet, after a few weeks, I realized that it wasn't actually a bad thing. For one, I get more sleep now than I ever did during the summer. Not having wifi in my bedroom stops me from binge-watching late at night until three in the morning. Maybe you could argue that I should have the self-control to just close my laptop when I get tired, but sometimes I get so wrapped up in a TV show I barely know the time to slip by until its too late. The slow wifi reminds me I need to go to bed anyway.
Anyone who knows me knows I am a futuristic kind of gal. Okay, not like Star Wars Galaxy but I am a dreamer and planner of what is next. It is so hard for me to be in the moment or be still. Without having any wifi or any distractions my mind becomes clear and I can focus on what is happening in the here and now.
Without the inaccessibility of wifi, I would have had no idea how dependent my life is upon it. When there is no wifi we are more prone to have engaging conversations with one another at the dinner table. No one can make me watch an eight-minute youtube video I was never interested in.
I suppose life has changed for the better and for the worse with wifi. I am not saying to throw your computers or phones in a lake, but it sure feels nice to disconnect every once in a while.
