Hello IWS Readers,

My friends and family already know this, but for those of you that don’t, I recently had my phone stolen.
TLDR: It happened at my retail job. I was bending down to fold clothes and my phone slipped out of my back pocket. While I was busy helping another customer, someone came up and snatched my phone behind me. I didn’t realize it was gone until after the fact. I went three full days without my phone and it made me realize how dependent we’ve become on these devices.

  1. I couldn’t contact anyone unless I used the store’s phone, a co-worker’s, or my boyfriend’s phone.
  2. Instead of scrolling through social media or watching a Youtube video during my lunch breaks at work, I just read a magazine (which I haven’t done in years.)
  3. When I had to meet up with someone- I had to give them the exact meeting time, location, and just pray that they would be there on time so that I wasn’t awkwardly standing around.
  4. Before bed, rather than spending an extra hour on my phone scrolling through Tik Tok, I tried going straight to sleep. Although, it took me a little while to fall asleep, I ended up waking up feeling well-rested each morning.
  5. There were little moments where I felt the need to pull out my phone to snap a picture or record a quick Instagram story to document it. Without a phone, I was forced to really be in the moment and remember every detail- hoping that one day, down the road, I wouldn’t forget the memory.
  6. Without my phone, I wasn’t able to schedule my usual Uber to pick me up for work.
  7. And I lost the convenience of being able to order my usual coffee for pickup or use any of my apps to quickly pay in store.

Every single time I reached in my back pocket for something that wasn’t there, there was a pang in my chest. This is how often we reach for our phones within a day. This is how reliant we are on our cellphones for communication or entertainment.

In those moments where I was standing or sitting around in a crowded area: I noticed that there were people who had others to keep them company, people who were alone with their Airpods in and staring at their cellphones, and even people who were in the company of others but still on their phones. How different would the world be if people didn’t carry their cellphones around all day? They would definitely be less preoccupied and more present.

By the time I got a new phone, activated my SIM card, and finished backing up everything- I realized that I missed so much on social media within the span of just 3 days. Being a blogger/internet person, not having my phone ultimately pushed back some of the content that I had ready to post. But between everyone on social media sharing voting information, to the recent news (I don’t have cable), to social hang outs, and let’s not forget all of the Halloween costumes. Even though I was disconnected, people were still moving on and sharing their lives on social media.

Also, what a strange concept, feeling the need to share so much of your life with the world. I mean, I can’t really say anything because, well… look at what I’m doing right now LOL.

It’s uncanny that this blog post’s schedule fell on Election Day. While I’m in the middle of a 6 day work, while making time to create content, and post- I can’t help but feel anxious over what’s to come. I’m choosing to vote this year for a better future- and I hope you will too. By next week, the results should be out.

Until then, stay safe and disconnect when you feel like you need a good wake up call or to realign.

x

Jessica