At The School Gates: I Can See Clearly Now…
Our urban mum Gia discovers just what it’s like to give up the smart phone…
I can see clearly now, the email is gone. I can see all the possibilities in my day without the “I cannot help myself when I hear the ping” anxiety. I can think about one thing without anticipating the flash of a red light. I can see where I’m walking instead of the thin pink line breaking up my view as I gaze over the hard case. I can see where I am in the taxi and actually look out the windows.
I’m telling you, I have been liberated. There is so much less urgency. And if there is, guess what, they will find me. Urgently and without fail.
It started when my son made the first comment. You’re not really looking at me. Why are you always on that? And the reality is I wasn’t really looking at him. And when each kid wants to hold a hand, I didn’t have one free.
Certainly my kids are happier when my eyes are looking at them and not down glued to a screen. I am no longer justifying my Smartphone by posting those adorable action shots of my boys on Facebook while I am “watching” their Judo class. I, like many, had not been allowing myself to be in the moment. And we are all missing out.
And it’s not only for our children. Why do we take our phones out when we are at a restaurant after we’ve placed our order? Ok, you might want to Instagram a fabulous pumpkin risotto but really, might that be the addicts excuse to reach for a device? Can’t we sit and look around the room without tweeting the celeb sightings? While everyone is communicating via multiple mediums, we are actually limiting our real communication with our compulsion to stay connected.
No longer is technology going to blur my boundaries.
The thing is when we become really involved; we really do enjoy it all more. We free ourselves to be immersed in the one thing we are doing and connect with it. We allow ourselves to be 100 per cent there for the person sitting across from us, walking beside us. And we are less anxious because we have automatically slowed down. We are distraction-free. Our brain is not on information overload.
I have already saved money on spa days to make my wrinkles go away.
