Hey!
I feel like starting something new today.... people always ask me, as I am vegan AND minimalist, what do you do without xyz? How can you live with no abc? etc... etc... And also the most popular question that comes with all those, WHY???
In the posts titled "my life without..." I will answer those questions...
Today let's look at my life without a smart phone.
For 2 years I had a smart phone... more precisely a iPhone. It became part of my life... part of who I was... bigger part of what I was doing... and a scary part of how I lived my life. It was with me 24/7. Never off... just in case... I had all social medias on there and I would know automatically if anyone would post something on Instagram, Google +, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter... I had access to my emails as soon as they came in... I could do my banking, take pictures, do yoga, meditation, check out where I was going, bus schedule, restaurants schedule, where EVERY Starbucks to walking distance was anywhere I would be... I could track anything anytime!
HOW can you live without that???
First of, I would have never let go of it if I could still afford it... money was a huge incentive.... and I figure that letting it go for 3 months would help me out and then I could take it back... I did it for money purpose... and it turned out to be The BEST decision I ever made!!! For myself and my family.... and in the end, after 3 months, I decided not to take it back! It has now been 7 months and my husband, just recently, offered me to take another smart phone since we now have room in our finances (and he know how painful it was at first) but I said " no thank you, I'll pass"... to his HUGE surprise! He even offered to pay part of it and I still declined!
What got into me???
Well, to be honest, after a few weeks of detox... and a few weeks of feeling completely lost and out of the game/excluded it got better!
I was lost that I could no longer know what everybody was posting on everything...
I was lost that I could not know every minute what everyone was doing...
I was lost that I could not take a picture of everything to remember it and "show" people...
I was lost that I could not instantly post what was going on in my life...
I did not know what to do with my time...
I did not know how to find my way...
I did not know how to get to a Starbucks...
I did not know how to know if a restaurant is open...
I did not know when the next bus would be...
I could not be reached in as many ways as rapidly...
I could not surf the Internet for every silly question that popped into my head every other minute...
and then I found myself again... I realised that I was living my life for others... for what others would think... for how many people would "like" "re twit" etc... my pictures and posts... I was comparing my life to that of hundreds of people I had never met and would most likely never meet...
I was spending way too much time trying to live my "dream" life by showing people I was living it instead of simply living it... I was spending to much time trying to convince other of how happy I was instead of just being happy for myself...
I was spending too much time with virtual people rather then real people...
Cutting off the smart phone has brought in my life:
More time with my husband and son
More time for myself
More time to observe real people while waiting somewhere instead of looking at fake virtual people
More time to cook, do yoga, meditate, read, knit...
It also showed me to speak to people again (humans can actually talk to one another without an electronic device intermediate)... ask questions.... instructions for where you wish to go... ask around where a restaurant is... you can also call a restaurant using a regular phone and ask for opening hours... you can check the bus schedule ahead of time or just wait for it...
It showed me to "look" at something if I want to remember it... take the time to really observe it and picture it in my head... I no longer run for my phone and miss half of something because I want to take a picture... And you know what, our memories are pretty good... we actually remembers what we should remember. Maybe the rest, every minor details, are not so important. Maybe what I see is not for others to see... Maybe you do not have to, or should not share all your life moments on social medias... Just the key ones are fine for close friends and family that you do not see as often...
It taught me to dress the way I like... not just to take a picture of how I looked... and it has simplified my wardrobe even more...
It taught me to do yoga how I FEEL it... and not how YouTube is going...
It also cut down on shopping temptations... I can no longer look at "google images" of everything (especially clothes and how celebrities dress)... I can't look up website when out and about and create a desire... I can't look at "every store I like" website to see what is new or on special...
It also brought me to the conclusion that if I am going to read emails only once a day, maybe I can decrease the amount of "junk" mail I get by unsuscribing to many things - sales/promotions/updates... I kept only what I really care about!
There was also no point in keeping so many social media if I am not going to go see them as regularly... because then you have to spend hours at a time looking through everything... 5 minutes (more realistically 10 - I can no longer lie to myself) every half hour did not seem so bad.... but 2h in a row, in front a a computer, I did not like... therefore I only kept FB and Google+ (which is attached to this blog) and Pinterest - but I no longer post there (Pinterest) and I am now thinking of letting that go too... I didn't even go in months!
All in all, I feel FREE!!! I feel like no one knows/care what I am doing, when, why and how... and that is OK!
I have more time...
I wander a lot more...
I just go with the flow...
And I have met real people and had real chat with a few interesting people...
I love it!
You will never catch me with a smart phone ever again!
love&peace,
nath
xox
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