Turn it off! A Moment of Silence for Technology

There is a saying my mother used to always tell me, “There is a time and place for everything.” Quite a simple saying that in modern day, can seem quite hard to do especially when it comes to modern technology. I recently reminisced with some old friends of mine as we remembered what it was like to not have a cell phone. During my high school years the popular thing was to have different colored pagers and beep cute codes like 143. Next to come were the two-ways, , and lastly the cell phones. Now before, cell phones were just for literally calling people or texting. Many people didn’t go on the web because it would cost too much. But even when you texted someone, at least for me there wasn’t much of an urgency to call them right back.

Heck we didn’t even leave our phones on the table when eating out with friends. Just over the past 15 years as phones have developed even further to basically small computers, the lack of basic etiquette and one on one human connection has created a new addiction. One that is with technology. I will raise my hand to include myself, my name is LE BohemianMuse, and I too was once a techno addict. I noticed how it was taking away from my communication with others. I also realized how my body would react whenever I heard a bing noise for either a text message or an email. 

I started to stress heavily when I noticed the lack of social media followers I wasn’t getting and feeling less and less important. It got to the point that it was affecting my creativity. Therefore I decide to put that to an end. So during my creative rehab, I took a moment to re-evaluate a few things, and one of those things was my use of technology and how I would control it and not it me. First thing I learned to do, was when I was taking moments to plan, write, exercise, or meditate. I would turn all technology items to silent, if I was amongst friends, I would make sure to take care of anything I need to look at before I entered into the premises and kept my phone in my purse. I started reading more, and going to the library to check out books like I used to do in the past, so I could continue to stimulate my mind. In doing so, I noticed a change, now when I check my social media I don’t need to check it every hour or half hour, I do it no more than two to three times a day.

When I do it it’s only for less than 5 minutes. Lastly, it was easier for me to return back to my creative self. Now I am not saying that modern technology will make you dumb, but as my mother says, “Too much for anything is not good for you.” Balance is key to nearly everything in life. Here is my impromptu idea for the week: Turn it off! Or put it on silent. If you’re within my generation, you remember how it was when cell phones didn’t exist, how one could only reach you via house phone. Or how it felt when you walked into the restaurant and actually observed the interior and exterior of the place, while talking with your friends face to face. Nothing was ever more important than that present moment. Therefore when you are working on your creative projects this week, try silencing your phone or any other modern technologies (i-pad, kindle fire, etc.) for just that hour, and see what difference it brings to you.

“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.”

 -Tennessee Williams