Digital Detox

My teacher assigned us an interesting (difficult) homework which consisted on nothing more than not spending time on the phone for a whole day. I was already familiarized with the experience as I was part of a feminist movement in Mexico that was about the same, the only difference was the purpose: to spend a whole day physically and virtually uncommunicated to force empathy in the Mexican population with the women who disappeared throughout the year. 

From a first person perspective, I felt uncommunicated. This feeling provoked me anxiety, as I normally spend three hours per day at my phone (in the pandemic was about double). There were at least 10 times that day I thought my phone was vibrating or heard the sound of a notification, but when I checked it, there was none. That scares me. The fact that we are so used to hearing those sounds our minds trick us to fill that satisfaction. 

 We are so addicted to virtual communication we forget how it feels to not see a black screen all day. It feels nice. I walked home admiring the view of the streets, the scenario I found irrelevant is now wonderful. It made me regret every time I gave that experience up for looking down at an irrelevant screen. It made me want to live in the present moment and I felt more alive.

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