This is the sixth post in a week-long web series that documents Preethi’s day-to-day experiences while forgoing a relationship with her cellphone. Check back daily for the next article.
I fell asleep the night before thinking about using my phone. So, it was only natural that I dreamt about it as well. I’m a lucid dreamer, so I remember my dreams as if they were movies. In this dream, I was in a maze trying to search for my phone. Ridiculous, but telling of just how desperately I want it at this point.
Day six fell on a Tuesday and day six was boring. A lecture and tutorial on a geography course. . . need I say more about how dull this Tuesday was? A two hour lecture on natural resources, I had no choice but to meet my professor’s gaze. Many students grabbed their phones during the lecture, checked messages, and then quickly put them away. The amount of times we all do this during class is amazing, and an observation I can credit to having mine taken away.
I have only one statement for my fellow SFU students: our attention spans are greatly limited and it’s entirely our fault. If you remember the popular comparison between the attention span of humans and goldfish, I want to deviate from such comparisons. A goldfish doesn’t have the means to increase its ability to concentrate; we do. If we credit ourselves for being the most progressive beings on Earth, please tell me why we have become slaves to the digital?
This is my real angst. And, if I bring about a new world order sometime in the future, I’m most definitely burning every cell phone I see. What is the origin of such declarations? Day six was not only boring, it was a pain in the butt. I was restless the entire day, while eating lunch and while sitting through my tutorial. I had to constantly tell myself, “One more day.”
My cell phone isn’t a drug, but it sure is addictive. Your body releases oxytocin at the sound of a “ping”; and if you ask me, that’s what we are addicted to. Not the phone itself, but the feeling of validation we get when it buzzes.
Day six and I finally can admit the difficulty of living without a phone. Seven days is too short a time-frame to get used to this routine, and I wonder if I should extend it to a month or even make it my lifestyle.
I have regularly used my cell phone for six years now, but I have accumulated zero skills from all the time I spend on my phone. It’s crazy to think how much time we invest into these devices, only to get little in return.
Day six is a day of agitation and ideas. I’m considering not only permanently limiting my cell phone exposure, but also leaving social media entirely. I don’t want to be someone who is this affected emotionally and mentally by the online world.
Day six I fell asleep thinking about my phone again. . . it has so much power that I don’t want to give it.
