The Art of Not Looking at Your Phone

Aesthetic Lifestyle Blog

Well, here we are half a week later and this concept has been in the back of my mind waiting to be written down. While the thought is still there and exists, the passion that was sprung tight waiting to be released onto a page of words has gone. I had some ideas of what I wanted to write about, but I wanted to wait and let my mind explore them further as I wrote and now here I am and I can just feel it's not coming to fruition in the way that I had perceived it might. That being said I will persist and see with some time and free flowing thought on the matter now, I may possibly come to some sort of interesting conclusion.

When I had originally wrote the title, I was fresh off public transport and deep into the thought of this world full of mobile phones and constant communication. A thought that often crosses my mind when I am on public transportation (which happens to be multiple times a day) is the lack of human interaction and no-lack of intimate time we are all having with a little metal device in front of us. Yes, I know in a way that little rectangle that most of us carry in a way is like an endless portal to the rest of the world at our fingertips. I know that it is a fountain of endless knowledge and information that permits us to be more educated, worldly, and connect that humans have ever had the potential to do before. But we're losing the little things in life in the processes of it all. Listen, I know I am not the first nor only one to share this mindset. Realistically I think that any time I bring this up into conversation, those around me regardless of age or interest can agree. I can almost guarantee without researching myself, that there are countless surveys and compilations of data full of humans that also share this belief system. A belief system rooted in that idea we can all see as a species that with modern technology there is something quickly being lost and almost already forgotten.

It makes me sad. It scares me. I don't want it to be lost. Not for myself or for others. Because I need others for this to exist. I want to make eye contact with people and not feel the immediate urge to look away. I want to feel the need to sit up more properly in my seat in the bus out of the subconscious awareness that others are watching. I want to be forced into conversation with someone as we are both bored sitting in public transport and just so happen to observe the same thing, both of us needing someone to share that moment with. I want to be bored. When am I ever bored? How often am I ever just daydreaming anymore? If there's anything that's positive about a really boring, unproductive lecture in school, it's the way it gives children the opportunity to be deep in their imaginative thoughts. The mind is so powerful, and it needs to roam free at times to grow stronger. When does it get it's moment anymore?

So, a few days ago when I wrote the title for this blog, I was feeling even more strong and opinionated about this topic than usual. And I thought to myself, "But you are just as bad as all of them." So, I decided to be bored on the commute home. And I refused to look at my phone. Didn't listen to any music. And guess what happened? I really wasn't bored. The mind is so powerful, it so quickly can take a thought and run with it. And it takes you on an explorative journey right then and there. It starts shuffling through your day, week, month, life, picking and choosing thoughts that are sparked by any one of your senses. And it runs with it. Where it goes with each thought really can be a multitude of places and emotions, but it's natural. It's essential. And it's dying out. I think I am going to challenge myself to experiment no music or phone in public transport for a weekend. No books, no writing, nothing at all. And let's see how the mind feels having that freedom to do as it pleases.