A Day Without a Cell Phone
I am currently spending my 31st hour without my cell phone.
I can assure you, it was not my intention. I’m as addicted to my phone as you are. I use it for email. I use it to text. I use it to Facebook, and like Pavlov’s dog, I keep on looking/waiting/aching for the ding. A new client, a design to approve, a baby-date to schedule. All. Damn. Day. Besides kissing my adorable small child and my strapping mustachioed husband… checking my phone is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do at night. It broke.
A few years ago, before I carved out at least an iota of balance, I would also check the phone at 4am, you know, just in case a colleague in New York needed something.
So I’m on my 31st hour without my cell phone — not by choice. It malfunctioned and because I was unwilling to fall for the scam that the Verizon guy (with “get money” hand tats) was trying to pull, I have to wait until tomorrow to receive a replacement. I’m on my 31st hour without my cell phone and it is glorious! Seriously — glorious!!!!
This morning, my family and I woke up and snuggled in bed. I had no idea what time it was. I slept for an extra hour while the boy and the mustache read books. I wrote. I WROTE! I’m writing right now! I haven’t written since I gave birth — almost 9 months ago.
We went to the farmers’ market. We went to the lake and danced to the beat of an impromptu drum circle. I was able to pass a pair of baby-pants to a little girl who peed in hers. Her dad bought us ice cream. We took a family nap. We bought a bunch of house stuff at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was a great day.
I’ve felt the phantom limb cell phone tingling. And yes, I’m on my computer right now, so I’m not totally unplugged (as the mustache is reminding me now), but this disconnection has been instructive. What a wonderful break!
More on that later. Now I’m going to pull myself away from tech and spend the rest of the waning hours of Shabbat hanging out with my family.