For the past six months, I have shared how a dumbphone changed my lifestyle and how I relate with people in gatherings. And snapping out of the tool, becoming the user and not being used, I began to see things that only felt like a knot in my guts before. Something is wrong with how I relate to my smartphone.
And instead of being present with the people you’re with, looking at them eye-to-eye as you engage yourselves in conversation, your hand seems to have a mind of its own, searching for that solid metal, seeking comfort. And tap the screen, endorphins rushing in with expectation as it lights up, hoping to find a rewarding notification. Nope, not right now. Maybe you can check me back after a few seconds.
I have tried detoxifying myself from social media quite a few times, only to come back crawling like I’ve just been through a smartphone withdrawal syndrome. And maybe you have too. So, where do we go from here?
If you indulge as I share with you my six-month-long experience of being (partially) smartphone deprived because I still have my tablet to work around minus the convenience and limited access to Google partner apps, here’s a list of the things I learned:
- Smartphones are like candy poppers. If you want sugar-high, activate your phone and start scrolling around in your social media accounts or random in-phone apps. You’ll never know what you’ll get, but it could be good (and make you feel happy).
- Smartphones are tools. But if you become so dependent on it that you forget how to be a resourceful human being apart from it, it could exploit you to the point that you’re no longer the user but the one being used. It wants your attention, and if you don’t know the limits anymore, you become its slave.
- Technology enables you to do many things. But if you don’t know how to rule over them, they will rule over you.
As I started the year, and to my surprise, my boyfriend gave me his phone (because he now has a new one, haha!), and so I’m back to using one again. Using a dumbphone for six months, I realized how revolutionary access to maps is. So I am really grateful to enjoy that convenience again.
I don’t think I am as attached to a smartphone this time as I was last year. Because I was already reminded how awesome it is to just wander outside the little metal box and be present right here and right now.
P.S.: If ever you pass by me on the streets and see me look like a smartphone addict again, I hope you slap this blog post at me and say hi.
jessa 