Unplugging...
This is a wonderful idea that a Dorothy suggests!!!
Last Christmas I went to Myrtle Beach, SC for a weeks vacation. With drive time and a few visits I was away for 10 days. And I left my phone at home the whole time!! I know it sounds crazy, but:
1) I survived
2) I never really needed it (I did have an iPad if an emergency popped u)
3) I got used to not having it
4) I came back way more relaxed & refreshed
5) I did have (fake) feelings of vibrations in my pants pocket where I normally carry it. About the 20th time I check my pocket and found no phone I realized how powerful a habit I had developed on being a slave to it!!
That was my big aha moment. A phone is suppose to be a tool that I use. Instead it had become a device that had me enslaved - to reach for it constantly, to stop whatever I am doing to answer it, to beg off a conversation with a live person to answer it - as if the person calling me was more important that the person I was actually in the same space & time with!! ( a big pet peeve of mine!)
It was a most liberating 9 days (it took me 24 hrs to adjust) I believe I am still sane because I leave my phone inside when I do my gardening ( which is nearly every day this time of year)
And I hide it on a Sunday’s so I am not tempted to spend time on it. I mean hey I grew up without it so I am not completely dependent on it like many youth today.
Downtime (away from electronic) allows me to do live meditations (sometimes for hours), garden Yoga, dream build what I want my future to look like, feel like & Be like! It allows me to Think deeply, reflect & contemplate the meaning of life and how I can best utilize my time & talents.
Most importantly it frees me up to live my life right now! To enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the moment. To focus on who I am with and really show appreciation for them and our time together. I think it should be something we should all do more often... break free from the bonds of technology and live free!!
💚🍀