UNITED STATES—I need a digital detox, I feel like I need it now more than ever. Every single time I think I have a moment to myself something comes up. The iPad is ringing, the cell phone is buzzing, the telephone is ringing, somebody somewhere needs something and it frustrates me to the core. Gosh, I wish I could rewind back to the 80s. Where there was no cellphones, you had to rely on landlines, there was no internet that could consume your entire day worried about who is posting what and where they are, the list goes on and on. Simply put, life was simple, easier, less stressful. I mean hell, as Americans we barely talk to one another nowadays, we’re all about texting, emailing, face-timing, anything accept having an actual conversation with someone in press.
The stress alone that a cell phone induces sometimes amazes me. Studies have shown that we check our phones so many times per day how in the world can we get anything done. As much as I hate to say it, I feel the sentiment. I’m not glued to my phone because I want to be, it is because someone is always contacting me. Even when I put it out in the universe that I don’t want to be contacted, I just can’t seem to get that wish. I would give up watching TV for a month if I could just get 72 hours without being stressed about something or someone contacting me via my cell phone asking me or alerting me of something.
I need a digital detox America. I need to shut myself off from all technology so I can have a bit of peace because my mind is constantly moving, my heart is constantly beating, my mind never sleeps and I’m at the point of being beyond burned out, I’m going to collapse and it is going to take me weeks to recover. We all tell ourselves time and time again we have plans to not be so engrained with technology, but it seems to get worse by every minute.
Our lives are dictated by technology. It is not making things easier, we’re making things difficult, more complicated, more stressful and more accelerated. I need a digital detox NOW more than I have ever needed or wanted one. Just to have a bit of peace; that is why a digital detox is so crucial for me, it will allow me to have some level of peace that I have been desperately craving and now getting no matter how hard I try.
I try to NOT to turn on the computer; it never works. I try not to check messages or even worry about messages on my phone, but every 10 minutes I’m checking, trying to ensure that I don’t miss anything. We’re programmed, it has been engrained in our brains we HAVE to do something that we don’t and when we actually do what we say we’re going to do, we feel guilty as a result. We have to stop beating ourselves up about not allowing technology to control us and reversing the roles if we want to bring that sanity back to our lives.
As soon as the opportunity arises I am taking it with full force people because if the pandemic has taught me anything it is that life is too short. When there are things in your life you can control, what in the hell is stopping you from making that adjustment?
