I resent my phone. And not just in a, "I wish I could simplify my iPhone" type of way. In a way where I fantasize living a life where I don't own a phone at all. A life where even if I do have a phone, perhaps it's only capabilities are calling friends and loved ones to schedule another consecutive gathering in which we exchange laughter and build community. I often think about how my skin and bones have permanent indentations and imprints from my phone on some of my fingers – like memory foam that's been overused. My hands, our hands, once weathered and used have now been reduced to tools that allow us to access the internet faster or retort back at someone that upset us without even being face-to-face.
This obtuse, inanimate, Industrial, (counter) intuitive, and "sleek" object pay my bills. It provides for me. It stimulates my brain. It connects me to others.
It also over indulges me. It scratches the itch. It provides “the fix.” It juts its way into my time. It demands from me. It owns me. It governs my thoughts.
I remember so fondly my life prior to owning this piece of pocket machinery. My skin was darker. My hair was sweatier. My knees were scraped and bruised. Life was visibly lived my body. My hands were rougher. My pinky didn't have this abnormal indention on the inside of it. The ‘modern birthmark’ one could call it. I remember a time where denim didn’t have that faded rectangular shape worn into everyones back pocket. I remember fondly life prior to the smart phone – but as time goes on, the fondness grows fainter.
To wish for a renewal of a time when things were better and simpler is like a pipe dream we’re all holding out for. Wasn’t it nice when information wasn’t spread 100 times the speed of wildfire?
A study shows that in 2017, the average person used their phone for 9% of their day. In 2019 there was a drastic rise in phone usage… Now in 2023 the average person statistically uses their phone 19% or more of every single day. At this rate, we will soon begin to spend a third of our life looking at a screen. Destroying our posture, and rotting our sense of self-worth.
It's cause for concern enough to question what we could do for our own sanity. The answer is simple though…
Just let me Google it.