If you have ever been told that you’re addicted to your phone, chances are you are part of what is known as gen-z. We grew up with phones and internet, we haven’t known any other lifestyle. This means that we have never had to say bye bye to our dear internet connection. If you were off in your aunt’s woods cabin, you would probably still have data. So what would happen if internet disappeared for a period of time? Or if someone went offline for a few days? Would they go crazy? Would the whole world brand them as hippies?
Well, I cannot tell about them, but I certainly can about myself.
For the sake of this question I went offline for a couple of days, barely a week, but I think that is more than enough. And let me tell you how it went.
First day in the morning, everything was chill. I felt as if a burden had been lifted off of me, energised, open and talkative. It is a weird feeling to explain. I think the best worded describe it is attentive. My focus was on the present and boy did it feel good.
But the bliss didn’t last long, for that same afternoon I was itching to grab my phone and swipe through instagram stories.
The next day was rough, I spent the majority of it staring at my ceiling fan while thinking deep thoughts. It is easy not to think of anything when you are being bombarded by news and posts and pictures and whatever you look at on the internet. But once the stream of information is over something peculiar happens. Your mind goes quiet for a bit, expecting external stimuli, but then it starts to wander. And let me tell you, even if your life was eventless, happy and mainstream, if your mind is given time it will overthink. And overthinking isn’t exactly ideal. It makes you insecure, and regretful. I will from hereinafter think of my phone as my not-at-all-cheap-therapist.
The next couple of days were spent in a contemplative kind of manner. Immersed in the past.
But day five came and all that stuff was over, I decided I needed to take back the reins of my life and took up sewing. In a couple of hours with my grandmas assistance I made a bodice and a half-circle skirt though they’re still hanging from the mannequin. After that I was a storm of activity. I started a lot of projects and then one at a time dropped them.
The end of the week left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth because due to my newly found time to spare I ended up catching up with my relatives. But unfortunately sometime distance is a privilege. And it should have stayed like that. If your aunt mentions politics you should run. Fast. On the bright side, I did learn a lot of things from that encounter, like swearwords.
I’m glad to say I didn’t go bananas -though there was a point were I went pretty Gollum- and I’m pretty sure no one would either if they went through a weekend with no internet. So it is safe to conclude that we are not addicted. In fact I believe that we are just hooked. We like it. it is undemanding to sit or lay down staring at a screen while scrolling with your finger. Furthermore, it is a very rewarding activity because challenges or goals only take a few minutes to accomplish. But we could do without it.
And I think nowadays its becoming a habit for everyone to do this more and more, instead of developing other old-school-skills like painting, writing, cooking and so on.
To top this off, Beyoncé’s “If I were a boy” brings up the what would happen if… Similarly, I’d like to bring up a little composition of my own device called “if I hadn’t internet”. It’d be greatly appreciated if you read the following lines to the music of Beyoncé’s song.
If I lost connection
Even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
And freak out about not surfing the net
Wouldn’t have a clue
Of what I could do
Or how to spend all my free time
Or all the hours I’d have in a day
'Cause my wifi’d be gone
Anyways, after my painfully long diatribe, I’d like to ask you: have you ever tried refraining from using any kind of internet? If so, I’d love to know about it. Remember to tell me down in the comment section. If you liked this post, please leave a like and share with your friends.
See ya’!
