How are you reading this? At this exact moment, what form of technology is allowing you to read and take in these words? My guess is a smartphone, a smartphone with access to an infinite amount of information, videos, pictures and any other savable content. So while I’m thrilled and beyond grateful that you, smartphone user, have chosen to read this specific article out of the millions of options presented to you, I’m asking you to stop.
I’m asking you to stop looking down into your hands while walking through campus or sitting on your couch. I’m asking you to stop lying in bed and hovering your phone above your face. I’m asking you, smartphone user, to put your phone down.
For those of you who didn’t take any of those requests seriously and are in fact still reading from your phone, read carefully and understand my request.
The time we spend on our phones (yes I said we, because I too am guilty), is not always time wasted. Sometimes the content we choose to view on our smartphones evokes conversation and engagement with one another. We’re able to watch a funny video and laugh out loud about it with the person sitting next to us. We’re able to read profound and mood altering information that sparks a debate and allows us to ask questions and hear new opinions. We’re able to keep in touch with distant friends and relatives in incredibly simple and diverse ways. But, inevitably, those aren’t the only ways in which we utilize our iPhones and Androids.
Just because communication is so unbelievably easy and accessible does not mean we need to be communicating at all times of the day. For some reason, we believe in this notion that if we’re not tuned in and connected with the virtual world at all times, we’re missing out on something. But the fact of the matter is that when we are tuned in and connected, which is typically always, we’re missing out on the real world, the one that should matter more. While it seems like a hefty task, there’s truly nothing wrong with leaving your phone at home while you go to the store or the gym, or turning it off when you sleep at night. There’s nothing wrong with not having a picture to prove you’re having a good day. There is nothing wrong with not being dependent upon our cell phones at all times of the day. There is something wrong, however, with being more concerned with sharing a moment with a piece of hardware rather than with the people in the moment.
The minutes we waste refreshing our Instagram feeds for the umpteenth time in the day, the time that passes while we’re scrolling through the comments of a Facebook post, the hours that seem to fly by while we’re watching YouTube videos and Vines, this is the time I urge you, and myself, to redirect. Redirect it to a conversation with the person next to you on the bus. Redirect it to homework or to a book that doesn’t require a Wi-Fi connection. Redirect it to something that lasts longer than your phone battery. Redirect your time to the present. The beauty of the internet is that what’s there now will probably be there later. The present, however, is not as generous. Not only is it temporary, it’s gone in a fleeting instant. So stop allowing every ding and buzz of your phone to interrupt and pause your life, because the world around you is definitely not pausing.
So while I thank the smartphone, and even tip my hat to it, for the way it allows me to communicate with my friends and family, and how it lets me learn new things every single day, I’m going to put it down. I’m going to have a conversation that doesn’t require a send button, I’m going to take in my surroundings without the lens of a Snapchat camera, and I’m going to enjoy the present while it’s here, and I urge you, smartphone user, to do the same.
