I was one of those kids who had a cell phone in fifth grade. My first phone was one of those brick Nokia phones. I don’t know why I had one, to be honest, but I was pretty much hooked right away. I would rack up the phone bills from texting and would send hundreds of texts a month. My friends and family would make fun of me for being on my phone 24/7 saying I can't live without it and they were right. Now as I've gotten older and phones have become more advanced, I’m hooked more than ever.
A phone serves so many different purposes. It gets us out of awkward situations and gives us an easy way to keep in touch with friends that don’t live close by and a constant connection to everything going on in the world. When some people, including myself, don’t have our phones on us we panic. It’s hard to not have your phone. Recently, I was at the doctors office with my dad and I gave him my phone to hold as I was getting an x-ray. I immediately asked for my phone and when he didn’t give it back, I got annoyed. It’s kind of embarrassing that I got mad that he had my phone for an extra minute.
I realized that I have a problem. The next week I had the opportunity to interview Roan Yellowthorn. I went to her concert, and after, I got the chance to sit down with her and talk. In the middle of the interview, her husband joined us and told me that they both had old-school phones by choice. I was shocked: why would anyone want a phone that literally only calls and texts? I asked them and they said because they realized they were missing out on the world. This hit home for me. I went to concerts and documented the whole thing on Snapchat to the point where I don’t remember just enjoying the music.
For the next few weeks, I tried to be in the present. At first, it was hard. Instead of texting my whole way to the subway, I kept my phone in my pocket and noticed all the new flowers the apartment building put in their garden. Instead of having my head down checking my Facebook notifications, I walked around the school and noticed some people from my hometown and was able to catch up with them. I felt a sense of freedom without my phone.
I was literally a slave to my phone. I needed to constantly check what was going on and broadcast to the world what I was doing. My whole life was on my social media. When I went out with friends instead of enjoying their company, I was documenting every moment for my story. I’m not saying I’m not still addicted. I still sleep with my phone next to my bed every single night and I go on it the second I wake up and use it pretty much right until I fall asleep and I still use it for when I’m stuck in an awkward situation.
Not using my phone as much for the past few weeks has taught me to live more in the moment, and that Facebook and Snapchat can wait. It’s not going anywhere. So as summer approaches, I encourage everyone to put down your phone and enjoy the warm weather and live in the moment.
