My cell phone died on Thursday, when we were still on vacation. I was with my immediate family, so I wasn’t too stressed about it. My replacement phone arrived yesterday. It was interesting to me that I wasn’t incredibly eager to open the box and get it started. I found myself “finding” other chores to do, before setting up my phone.
When we were kids, my father bought my mother one of the first cell phones. (you know, the giant brick sized ones) We all thought that she would be thrilled, but she wasn’t overjoyed. “Maybe I don’t always want to be reached,” I remember her saying.
Our new technology is definitely a two-edged sword. I wanted to text my son to bring some things home from the grocery store and yet, I couldn’t, and I had complete FOMO with my friends. Still, the non-distracted peace, all to myself, was really intoxicating. The cable guy “fixed” our home phone line right around the time my cell phone was completing its re-installation. Both rang within minutes of each other. I felt something shift in me, hesitantly. I felt my pace quicken and my brain started whirling with texts to write and things to sort and look up. I think a small, peaceful, quiet part of me, let out a disappointed, resigned sigh and went back to her far corner, in the back of my mind.
“My mind is constantly going. For me to completely relax, I gotta get rid of my cell phone.” – Kenny Chesney
“I actually have this fantasy of giving up my cell phone.” – Julia Stiles