I Turned My Phone Off And It Was Awesome

by - 7:45 PM

Bzzzt! New message from Lucínia: we gotta go to Ant-Man
Bzzzt! Vixela Baldoza added you to their circles
Bzzzt! Saskia sent a sticker
Bzzzt! Your daily feed from Bloglovin'!
Bzzzt! M. Nyczkowska: results of final exams are now online
Bzzzt! New message from Lucínia: and Guardians of the Galaxy is in theaters again
Bzzzt! Stephanie@VDUI1A(school): I got a B in grammar!
Bzzzt! Stephanie@VDUI1A(school): What grades did you guys get?
Bzzzt! New comment from Catalina Blue
Bzzzt! Bryleigh added one of your tweets to their favorites!
On a normal day my phone sounds like a ver aggressive mosquito, angrily buzzing every other minute. Nowhere else are my real life and online life as intertwined as here: I receive tweets from blog buddies while checking the results of my final exams and pictures of my friend's lunch are next to pictures of pretty flowers on the other side of the planet. Most of the time I love it. Sometimes the constant stream ofmessages annoys me. That's why I couldn't care less about not having internet access most of the time during my four week trip to Germany and France.

At first the silence on the campground was deafening. Obviously no mail from college, but also no tweets from blog buddies, no endless conversations about Hodor with a high school friend. Nothing. I felt a little uneasy... until I realized I wasn't mindlessly staring at my Facebook newsfeed, I wasn't looking at badly written blog posts about make-up (sometimes I get so bored I even look at make-up blogs- I always regret it). I wasn't bombarded with messages from friends and foes alike. I wasn't getting distracted by the wonderful world of the internet, I was living in the real world for 100%. And it was awesome.

Suddenly I found myself staring at ducks in a river for hours at a time. I got overexcited at the sight of certain rocks. The geologist inside me spent hours thinking about the geology of the area and the part of me that's a writer kept coming up with plots for fantasy stories set in the woods I'd been walking through all day. I didn't miss the internet at all in those first two weeks. We spend too much time staring at screens and too little looking at the world around us. That's a shame. It's a beautiful world and it has too much to offer to be ignored. Turning your phone off for a couple of days won't kill you - if anything it'll make you feel more alive.

I came home on the 13th, ten days ago. I haven't posted since that day. I went online to catch up with some friends, but the internet had lost some of its appeal. While I was away, I'd started to miss being in touch with my friends, but back home I missed the woods, I missed the conversations with my dad. And so I decided to stay away a little longer. Spent some more time in the real world. I don't know what pulled me back in. I was probably missing you guys and all of the awesomeness you have to offer. Still I seem to turn my phone off a little earlier every night. I try not to spend too much time browsing site I'm not interested in. But most of all I try to enjoy the real world more and so far I'm enjoying it a lot!

Stay Awesome!

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12 Fellow Ramblers

  1. Being away from technology is interesting, isn't it? The only way for me to access the internet currently is via my phone since my wifi is down, but the amount of peace we've had is amazing.

    xoxo Morning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love being away from technology, I'm so much more productive with nothing around to distract me.
      Via phone is the only way for you at the moment? O.o I'd go crazy... If I only have access via phone I don't even bother with blogging and commenting... Awesome that you take the time to comment this way!

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  2. Being away from my phone is the most difficult and essential thing I need to do. The furthest I've gotten in terms of progress is turning off notifications and leaving it on silent, but I still feel the need to mindlessly check every so often and have another obsessive mental tirade. Why is my phone so important? Why is being connected to these people so important? No wonder I let them dictate my life so much. I think I need a retreat like you, and maybe then I'll notice the little things and find peace.

    -M
    The Life of Little Me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every step you take brings you closer to your goal, no matter how small that step is ;)
      My phone is always on silent, because everyone in my house hates the sound of my phone going off every other minute XD

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  3. I know, it's amazing. We should have an internet-free day once a week!
    Love, Mia xx

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  4. Hey girl! I am the "Unknown X"! found your blog accidentaly and I really like it. I try to check it every day for new posts. Go on please! Good job! I am also a blogger and I would be grateful if you took a glance at my blog. I am from Greece so I write Greek but you can translate my blog in your own language or whatever language you want. It is a teenage blog and there we discuss about various teenage (not only) issues. My blog is anonymous because in this way I can write without fear and just like the way I want. Hope you enjoy it! If you like it let me know please.
    Link: http://e-efiboi.blogspot.gr/
    Thanks a lot.
    With love,
    "Unknown X"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Never met anyone from Greece before :P Will try to check your blog if I find the time.

      Delete
  5. This is wonderful, Envy, but the thing is, I go to school, not university, and all our teachers/districts are making all papers on Google Docs. In English, we are building our own website. There is a web design class. We take school surveys online. We download apps for our foreign language classes. It's hard to leave electronics in this day and age of schooling, you know? I don't think it is even an option for my school, honestly. xx
    ~ Sanjana
    peridotcove.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. I know what you mean, my college wants me to do more and more online too. Not at the same level as your school, but it does make it harder to leave the internet for what it is for a day or two... And really, if it affects your education in a bad way, you shouldn't do it. Education is way more important than randomly skipping through a forest!

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  6. This reminded me of your Battery Challenge which I said I'd do but still haven't gotten around to doing yet :(
    I spent only a few days without internet and phone service but those days went by pretty well (considering how we were road trip-ing) but not all days are going to be as fun as those. I like the idea of switching phones off earlier at night- I might take up that suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm gonna do the Low Battery Challenge again this year, you wanna do it with me? :)
      I love road trips, I wouldn't need internet if I had a car full of cool people and nice places to visit.
      Good luck taking up the suggestion, 'cause if we're gonna go on like this in #spacepoliceradio like this we're all gonna suffer from sleep deprivation in a few weeks time XD

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