According to my iPhone, last week I spent almost 20 hours of screen time looking at it. 20 hours that will not come back to me.
I’m from that generation that grew up without mobile phones. I remember the day internet was connected in my parents’ house, and the first mobile phone I got. Time has passed by. And somehow, I now spend a significant amount of time looking at a tiny screen that fits in the palm of my hand, while life still happens outside.
I’ve been thinking about, and acting on, getting a more offline life, or at least a more intentional online life, rather than a consuming one. A life that creates and puts out there what I find interesting, rather than infinitely scrolling through what an algorithm might think is interesting to me. Be it funny videos, camera reviews, or the latest influencer talking about their life. It’s not that I’m not interested in other people, it’s more about being present in my life and with the ones that surround me.
I’m enjoying finding life happening outside, like the group playing in the park, navigating Amsterdam’s canals, going for a run, and taking a magazine to read an article. Small acts that break the phone dependency and clear the mind. I’ve been thinking about how this hyperconnectivity has introduced a lot of noise to our lives. From the constant switch of videos, photos, and music, all the time. We are missing the ability to be in silence, to have room and breath to think, mental space to let the mind roam freely and go to different corners, navigate our thoughts, and come back with new ones. The space and time to just be.
This is my resistance to always be consuming.
