Lately, I’ve been feeling the tug to my phone like a siren song. If I had a moment of boredom, out came my phone, rescuing me from the .5 seconds I may have to sit in silence. My thumb swiftly flicks from Twitter to Instagram to the news. I mindlessly repeat the same pattern 4 minutes later, like a tic.
This is not ok.
This will never be ok with me.
This would never be acceptable for my children. And when I view it through what I’d hope for my children, I realize if it’s not best for them it’s also not best for me. The noise, the distraction, the constant contact. None of those things are good for the soul.
There is no room for true, unique, innovative, creative thought. Not an inch of space for creation with all of that consumption. That is not an acceptable or sustainable rhythm of life for me.
So, this past weekend, I went analog. I cut out social media. Cold turkeyed my way through the weekend (Friday evening until Monday morning), hand still reaching for the phone before my brain registered and remembered my commitment. Back away from the phone, Hayley.
It’s a compulsion more than anything, a way I’ve trained my brain to react. Bored? Grab the phone. A quiet moment? Better fill it up with 140 character musings.
I realized that when I had a creative or clever thought, my first instinct was to tweet them or grab a quick picture to illustrate. What a cheap use of that creativity, 140 characters off into the ether.
I want to create lasting works. That takes lasting spans of quiet and peace. Boredom breeds creativity. We know instinctively know that, as bored children we created whole other worlds to entertain ourselves. I need to get back to that place.
Don’t you miss it?
You’re welcome to grab that image as your “away message” for Instagram on the weekends. I use the hashtag #analogweekend to see who else is joining with me.