Breaking, losing or having my phone stolen seems to be the mantra of my life.
In just over a year, I have gone through two phones (cue the Kevin Gates song) as a result of two different circumstances.
Though shameful, the experience of lacking a cellular device was eye-opening to the problems of the current digital age in which we live.
Last week, my phone decided it would just shut off while I was driving. Without Spotify and Google Maps, I was at a loss for what to do. I had to listen to the radio station. Only 20 years ago, reading a highway sign was completely normal, but who does that anymore?
Although there were many negatives to not having my phone for five days, the worst by far was being unable to check president Donald Trump’s latest tweets. How else was I supposed to know the news of the day? Sad! I had grown accustomed to the bombarding news notifications on my phone, so the lack thereof felt very distressing.
Not to mention, I had no idea what to do with my lonely hands. There was nothing to hold anymore. When I walked around on campus, I actually had to look up and register my surroundings.
For five days, I did not run into anything or anyone for that matter. I even got to say “hi” to people that I have not seen in very long time.
Without Tapingo, precious minutes of my day were wasted while standing and waiting in the Chick-fil-A lunch line.
Making matters worse, I had to stand in that long line without any means of technology to pass the time.
I had to walk down four flights of stairs, only to find out that there were zero open washing machines. This happened numerous times before I gave up and decided to just wear the dirty leggings.
Fortunately, I had my laptop so late night Netflix was never sacrificed and I could keep up with Big Little Lies on HBO. Oh, and I could still do my homework for classes. By the end of my five days, I had another shiny Apple product in my hands and I did not feel so alone anymore. Yet I also realized the extreme reliance on technology that our society has developed.
This experience forced me to change the way I thought about everyday occurrences. I had to find a new means for an alarm clock so I would not miss my classes. Rather than plugging in my earbuds while I walked to class, I was forced to walk empty-handed and open-eared. Instead of looking down and constantly refreshing my Instagram or Snapchat feed, I looked up.
It was tough being reduced to the world of Facebook and LinkedIn direct messaging but it was certainly do-able.
Even though I have my phone replacement and my life is no longer in shambles, I have learned a valuable lesson from this experience: Disconnect to Connect.
