Dear fellow millennials,
One of the biggest perks of our generation is having a cellphone. One of the biggest problems of our obsession with checking our phones every twenty minutes, and that's if were are good about it. We are constantly scrolling through our Instagram's, Snapchat's, Twitter's, and other various forms of social media. It consumes us. I know, for me, the very first second I am done with one class I am on my phone.
Then tragedy struck. I broke my phone.
What had happened was that I was walking home from Poetry Club, which makes this moment all the more profound, and I dropped my phone on the pavement. I picked it up and it had a small crack, but it was still functioning. I was so stressed out, so I played music in the shower to release tension of the upcoming struggle that was that week. Right in the middle of Beyoncé's 7/11, I turned around and the second I did my phone slipped and the lock screen shattered. I panicked. It wasn't working. I cried. I literally couldn't slide my home-screen across, but I knew I had to call my parents about this situation. It was 10:30 pm. They were in bed, but by some sort of miracle I was somehow able to use Siri to send my mom a call, and then befriended her on Facebook the next day and explained what happened.
I will be given an old Samsung phone that can only text and call people.
It has been ten days now, without a phone, and people and friends have literally given me looks like, "How are you able to survive?" and "OMG you poor child." I just want to say, that going without a phone for 10+ days now has taught me so many lessons in life and about myself.
1. It really is a detox.
2. You don't need social media as bad as you think you do.
There is life beyond Keeping Up With The Kardashian/Jenner's on Snapchat. You don't need to know about the party that your high school best friend went to on Instagram. You don't need to consume three+ hours of other people's lives, wasting your own, when you can be living your own life to the fullest.
3. Not having a phone shows you how to form better relationships with people. You learn a lot about your friends or even strangers you just meet.
I went to a picnic at my professor's farm, for a club, and discovered the beauty of not having a phone. I didn't feel the need to take a Snapchat of me on a horse-and-buggy, check Twitter, and or even Instagram a photo of the orange skyline. I had a chance to live in the moment, meet and talk to some of my fellow Prism club members, and just relax.
4. There are so many other things to do.
Go on a walk. Hang out with friends. Read a book. Watch a movie or even go see a movie. Work out. Go to club meetings. Eat longer. Play a sport with your friends. Do something. Anything.
5. A workout without music is so much harder.
This is so true. You can't even argue me on this point. It is hard. It makes me wonder how people can do it so easily. I'm going to be like Nike right now, when I say this, "Just do it." It will be harder, but it honestly will feel more rewarding knowing that you can do a workout without music blasting in your ears.
6. I can finally get an extra hour of sleep every night.
What do you mean? You can go to bed BEFORE 2 pm? Is this witchcraft? Yep, I went from getting five hours a sleep a night to getting six-seven hours of sleep, so it is possible knowing how much better rested you'll feel to not look at your phone in bed.
7. I love the calendar app on my phone a lot more than I thought I did. I also check my school email a lot (like once every hour).
This is actually my hardest thing about not having my phone, surprisingly. I had to write down all of my club meetings into my agenda, as well having to come to terms with the fact that I can't check my school email whenever I wish anymore.
8. Your computer can also double as your alarm clock.
This is true, but you can't have your computer alarm go off every fifteen minutes unless there is a website that I don't know about. It is hard, for me; however, to not have my phone vibrate to tell me when I should leave my room/gym/cafeteria/etc. to head to a club meeting or class and actually look at the clock.
9. Life is really about making the most of every moment. It is not a competition for likes, retweets, or even the "best" Snapchat story.
It is actually scary how social media is supposed to validate our happiness. It is sad to know the fact that you can actually become depressed if you don't get that 11th like on Instagram. Social media perpetuates this competitive element where you have to feel like you have to promote this more "fun" and "exciting" image of yourself to the world. Isn't it just great to get rid of that pressure, and live life in the moment?
10. Keep your head up more. Smile at people. Wave at them. Ask them how they are.
It really is an incredible feeling having genuine conversations with people. It feels great not having a strained neck, from always looking down. You actually feel more confident maintaining eye contact with people. It can be scary, but more importantly it can also be empowering. Empowering beats scary in my eyes.
If you don't believe me, I want you to try it. Just one week. You don't even have to break your phone. Just give it to a friend for a week to hold onto, your roommate, or even a trusted professor. You will see that there is a life out there beyond the blue light radiating back at you at night. You might even be tempted to take a walk and not feel the need to post an "artsy" nature picture on Instagram. The dog filter will still be there for you on Snapchat, when you return, I hope.
But overall, I do hope that your eyes open to see the beautiful world you live in and the wonderful people you have in your life.
