What smartphones stole from us
When was the last time you were bored?
I mean really, truly bored and undistracted from that boredom.
I vividly remember that feeling as a kid. I can still recall lying on my bed in the summer, listening to the birds chirp, someone's lawn mower in the distance. There was nothing good on TV and my friends were busy. All I could do was sit around and think. Imagine. Daydream. I didn't yet have a smart phone.
I don't know the last time I was truly bored. Perhaps when I first moved back to Canada after living abroad and hadn't yet acquired a phone. Maybe it was the last time I traveled without international data. But these days, there's no reason I wouldn't have a phone with internet and endless apps in my possession.
The loss of boredom has been on my mind a lot lately. What have we lost alongside it?
When I was bored as a child, I took up sewing dresses out of my mom's old fabric stash for fun. My friends and I played crazy 8s for hours. My brother and I lined up our toys and played "bowling" to no end. I'd sit in the park and look at the clouds and listen to kids playing in the waterpark. An entire afternoon was spent walking to the corner store to get a slushy and back.
Boredom breeds contentment. Simple activities spark joy. Connection with others is the default.
Not to be dramatic, but I believe smartphones stole this from us. We are not longer content. We open our phones and are somehow thrust into a funnel to make a purchase just to feel something. We are no longer pursuing creative activities. We open our phones and save a craft or recipe that maybe we'll do one day - so may as well save it! We are no longer connecting. We are reading bizarre and sometimes vile comments from strangers or bots, subconsciously questioning whose side we're on. The second we unlock our phone, the phone grabs and holds onto us. There is no space for boredom.
You know what the craziest part is? We can simply put the phone down and go outside. Reconnect with all the things the phone takes away from us. It only lives IN the phone. But for many, it's not so simple. The phone is a drug, and nearly everyone you know is taking it. So how do you gather the strength to finally quit?
I'm not sure I'm ready OR able to say goodbye to my smartphone - afterall its so intertwined with day to day living, and there are some undeniable benefits to it. But I'm ready for a change. Having children has reaffirmed the importance of life away from the internet; a life of boredom. I see the magic they create when left to their own minds. I want that for myself too.
If you've been having big feelings about your smart phone and the internet, know you're not alone. And please remember - real life exists outside of the screen.
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