Here's why.
You see, the month of May was a month for me to focus on being in the present. You know, put my phone in my purse, pay attention to world events, and try and not have my head so far up in the clouds in the wonderful world of Andi.
There wasn't really a specific event that I felt really deserved a special post. So I decided to just make one and explain my conclusions.
But first, here is a great link that I read on one of my favorite procrastination sites, Thought Catalog. It really goes well with what I'm thinking.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/olya-kudriavtseva/2014/06/put-away-the-social-media-your-need-for-instant-gratification-can-wait/ Check it out!
Now don't get me wrong, I am totally one of those cell phone obsessed people. I'd like to think I would be completely fine if I lost the thing, but let's be real, I'd be so bored and I'd feel so out of the loop.
Before texting was cool and I became attached to my cell phone in high school, I focused my free time in so many better ways. I love(d) to get completely lost in a book. So lost that I would quit reading and have to remind myself that I am in fact NOT Hermione Granger and I am unfortunately NOT a witch. Always such a buzz kill. I also love(d) to color. Boy oh boy how awesome a brand new coloring book was. The endless choices of which Disney character to bring to life next! I love(d) to people watch. People are so funny and do some of the most ridiculous things. I love(d) to sit and look for four leaf clovers. Blackwell luck is no joke. Documenting it with a special little clover can be so very exciting. I love(d) to do so many things that don't require an ounce of technology. I say love(d) because I still love all of these things. Honestly, I will love all of these things plus many others until the day that I die. However, I've let myself ruin my favorite activities by getting distracted with my phone or Netflix or Buzzfeed or stupid games that are addicting like 2048.
Do I still do all of these things? To some extent. When I'm reading, I let myself be yanked away from the wonderful make believe world I am in to check an incoming text. When I'm coloring I color while watching Netflix or a movie ruining my time that used to allow me to become less stressed. When I'm looking for four leaf clovers I allow myself to check the latest tweets and Facebook posts which being quite honest, takes all of the fun out of it.
When starting the month of May I asked myself why I allowed myself to be so distracted with technology when I know that it really just makes me unhappy in the long run. And I didn't have an answer for myself. Why does anybody fall into the trap of technology? Just because?
This month was hard. And I in no way got anywhere near where I want to be with technology. I decided this is going to be a very long work in progress. I decided to start off, I would make sure I always kept my phone put away when I was out with friends. And generally, I stuck to this. A few times when I was with one friend, they told me numerous times that it was okay to text somebody if I needed to. But there is the problem. Everybody is okay with this these days. I wish everybody would treat me like my grandparents do and scold me when I have my phone out around them.
One time last month I was sitting at the orthopedic group waiting to see my doctor for my knee. I pulled my phone out at first to pass the time and quickly remembered this project and put it back away. Not a minute later an elderly man sat down across from me. We quickly picked up conversation. He told me about his family and I told him all about my regret for playing soccer which resulted in me being stuck in this knee brace. Why would I ever have my first instinct to be taking out my phone instead of have a really pleasant conversation with that man?
For all the Mizzou kids out there. How many times have you pretended to be on your phone walking through Speaker's Circle so you didn't have to talk to anybody? Or while waiting for a class to start you get on Facebook or Twitter instead of trying to talk to a peer? Lord knows I do both of those. And that's weird. Because the world we live in is not a virtual one. We should be communicating the way everybody used to.
Since when did how quickly somebody responds to your text define how much they like you? Why does it make me so annoyed when I don't get 11 likes on Instagram? Why do I feel so accomplished when somebody retweets me?
I am unique. I am weird, an odd duck. I have great family and amazing friends. None of them like me any less because my tweets aren't favorited and I haven't hit the wonderful number 11 on Instagram likes. Why do I care so much? Because that is the society I live in and the world isn't going to change for me so I need to take matters into my own hands.
Like I said, I'm still really bad about this. I've checked twitter more times than I can count just today. Also, I'm blogging right now instead of being out in the world.
This is going to be a slow change. But it's something that I really feel is necessary. I want my life to be focused on "the now" not what was posted to social media by all of my closest 700 friends on Facebook.
SOOOO, if you see me out and about or just sitting at your house and I'm on my phone.....be my grandparents and tell me to put it away.
I WANT YOU TO.
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