Phones

Today’s Word: ‘Phones’  as in… let’s try this together: let’s turn them off. Let’s shut them down. Let’s see what happens! I woke up to the gentle sound of a strumming guitar from an alarm app I use. I picked up my phone, turned off the alarm and headed downstairs to feed the pup and take her outside. Back inside, I opened a weather app to see what it was like outside as I lit a fire in the family room.

I brewed some coffee, sat on the couch and put in my earbuds. Looking for the Headspace app, I got distracted by a news app. After reading the first four headlines about Covid-19, US tourists stranded in Europe, a shortage of hospital beds, and another nursing home in lock-down, I continued looking for Headspace. Distracted, I opened a sports app. I wondered what might be going on there. Absolutely nothing. I checked FB and IG, and was just about to launch Headspace when I noticed an alert from my weather app. I opened it. I read it. Never mind that I had just been outside. Finally, opening Headspace I was greeted by “The Wake Up” which posed this question: “When was the last time you went a day without your phone?” A short video featured a number of ‘Headspacers’ sharing their responses: “Can’t remember…” “Don’t think I ever have…” “Traveling without my charging cord…” “Hiking, and out of range.” This got me thinking: how would I answer that question? Most of us are up to our eyelashes in technology every day; dawn-‘til-dusk-and-beyond. Giving ourselves a sabbath; not merely a break, but some intentional time to rest, renew, and restore could be the single best thing we “do” all week. I knew I was in trouble when I opened the weather app after just being outside. So, here’s the challenge for Sunday: decide on a duration of time that you’ll just turn it off. Can you step away from it for an hour? Let’s try this together. Let’s turn them off. Let’s shut them down. Let’s see what happens!

#100days50words