There’s an old debate about whether all the technology we use daily makes our lives easier or harder, whether it simplifies or complicates our existence.
I can argue the issue either way. The truth is, though, I’m tired of how enslaved to technology I’ve become.
That’s not to say that I’m brave (or disciplined) enough, as some of my friends are, to only check my phone a few times a day. Nope. It’s invisibly tethered to me and when it rings, dings, chimes, or chirps, I pick it up to see what’s going on. It annoys me enough that I turned off all notifications except for the phone calls, texts and Facebook Messenger. And Facebook Messenger notifications are only on because there are 3 people important to me with whom I correspond almost exclusively via that app.
Because I spent the last long 15 years (as my job required) sitting in front of a computer 9-10 hours a day, I no longer enjoy sitting in front of a computer. Yet I need to do so to write, to manage our household and our finances, to keep in touch with people I care about, and to satisfy my intense curiosity. I have a love/hate relationship with my phone. I hate carrying it around, but it’s become my external brain. I need an external brain more and more as my internal brain ages and is noticeably less sharp than it was even a few years ago. But the most important and impactful reason for the love part of the relationship with my phone is that it enables me to access virtually all of the information in the universe (translated into English) at the moment that any question about any thing at any time comes up. I enjoy being a know-it-all.
Sooooooo…as I mentioned in my Shorts post on Friday, I booked a cruise for us. And I’m discovering an unintended consequence. Because I’m too cheap to pay for an internet package on-board and we’ll be “out of the country” and subject to roaming charges, we’ll basically have to unplug our phones, tablets and computers for the duration of the cruise. In fact, we’re not even taking our computers and my tablet (used almost exclusively for my Mahjong addiction).
I’m leaning toward yelling Yippee about that, but I’m also a tiny bit worried about going through information withdrawal. I mean, what if someone asks me how many giraffes die each year in Kenya because they accidently get clotheslined by power lines? I am not going to be able to find that out unless I remember to look it up after I get access to internet again. And I know I’m not going to remember to look it up when I get access to internet again unless I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to remember it. What a dilemma! On the positive side, I don’t think you need internet access to set a reminder on your phone, even when it’s in airplane mode.
Come to think of it, I wonder why phones don’t have a cruise mode. Hmmmm, I should look that up.
One good thing about anticipating being unplugged for a week is I’m forced to Think 2 Steps Ahead to prepare for no internet or ability to communicate. Those of you who know me know I once trademarked the phrase Thinking 2 Steps Ahead. There was a period of my life (my younger, working, more ambitious years) when I dreamed I’d make a career out of and get filthy rich with this innovative thought process. I didn’t though, either make a career out of it or get rich, filthy or otherwise. Still, I enjoy the mental exercise and the sense of accomplishment it brings when I’m well prepared for what’s happening.
I think I’ve contacted everyone who needs to know we’re going to be unavailable. I don’t want anyone to think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere because they can’t get hold of me. In the “old days” before telephone answering machines if the phone rang and no one answered the caller just tried again and again until they reached you. No one thought you might be dead. Even before telephones, people wrote notes or letters to each other. Sometimes years would pass before they got a reply. Sometimes people were actually dead.
Who’d’ve ever thought this ability to instantly connect with everyone at any time would become a societal malady when the ability is restricted?
All in all, I’m looking forward to being unplugged for a week. Like going cold turkey to break an addiction. I’m sure I’ll reach for my useless phone a hundred times. But for the first time in a long time Randy and I will have each other’s undivided attention. There’s a satisfying anticipation that we’ll know or have to interact on more than a superficial level with no one else for nearly a week. I may really enjoy that. This unplugged experience could turn out to be a bit of a mini spiritual retreat as sightseeing and going non-stop are not high on the list of things we enjoy. Without doing all the time, we will have time to simply be, to put all the distractions aside and reconnect with ourselves and each other.
Maybe that’s the secret: unplug to reconnect.
P.S. I’d love to hear your cruise experiences and stories. Comment below!
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