Technology has become so prevalent in our day-to-day lives that it’s hard to remember a time without it. We are constantly checking our apps to make sure we didn’t miss the latest picture or tweet, letting it waste any free time we have in a day. My head is in my phone so much that I sometimes completely miss something that someone says to me, because I am so engulfed in my scroll.
It sounds pathetic typing it out, but it really is a problem. I have become so obsessed with what is happening on my phone that I completely tune out what is going on around me. And the worst part is, it’s not just me. I see other people doing the same thing, and get mad that we have become so dependent on our phones that we can’t even focus on the person talking right in front of us.
Over spring break, I traveled across the pond to Europe to visit a friend studying abroad. Of course, I didn’t realize until the day I left that I needed some sort of phone plan in order to get in contact with my parents back home. I was stuck and could do nothing, so I decided to just rely on any free WiFi I could find and hope for the best. My mistake proved to be one of the best decisions I could have made.
As we explored the countries and immersed myself in the culture, I was truly in awe at the beauty and the experience I had worked so hard to give myself. And without Internet, I was forced to truly take in the beauty of it all, rather than Snapchat the whole experience just to show some people what I was doing over my spring break. The views were breathtaking – taking pictures barely gave them justice. Of course, the minute I was able to get WiFi I was immediately catching up on what I had missed, which made me realize how much my phone truly dictates my life.
Through my experience, I learned that it is important to put down your phone and enjoy the moment every once in a while. You don’t have to fly across the world to do so, you can be present at a family dinner, or even during a conversation with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. I’m also not saying to ditch technology completely, rather I suggest taking time out of your day to just do something without your phone in your hand. You never know what you’ll learn about the world or about yourself.
As Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
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