Life without technology is a wake-up call

Life without technology is a wake-up call

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?

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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.

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