We all do it! Sitting/standing/laying down/queuing/waiting/eating etc. etc. Remember those good old days when you could do all of those things without a phone or ipad or some kind of technology in your hands? I remember those days, they almost seemed less stressful no??
What is it about our technology nowadays, we just can't seem to stay off it. It breaks my heart when I see children and adolescents out with the family and sat on a piece of tech (or even worse, the whole family sat at a table not talking, but staring at their phones instead!). I saw it the other week at the Whitworth Art Gallery. A whole family were all sat together laughing and joking and the teenage boy with them was so engrossed playing some kind of battle ship game, he missed it all. What happened to being present in the moment? What happened to listening to the person opposite you - fully. Not one eye on your phone and one eye on your friend. How about listening wholeheartedly to what that person has to say. It must make you feel better, knowing that you experienced something. That you had a 'moment' shared and you were there fully for it.
Another thing is how does it make you feel? When you're sat scrolling through Facebook or Instagram how do you really feel? Are you happy? Does it give you a lovely warm feeling inside? Maybe... for me though, I don't think it does. I was thinking about this the other day whilst I was sat meaninglessly scrolling through a feed. To me, I don't feel happy from looking at other pictures, it's almost like a way of escaping the real world, escaping the 'now'. Why do we want to escape from it? The world is such an amazing place. Especially us lucky ones in the Western World - we have it pretty good here! We are not running from war zones (and hopefully never will be!), we have beauty all around us. The sky is bright, the grass is so so green and the flowers are stunning. Even the air is clean over here - especially where I am in the UK.
So, today I suggest you try and prize yourselves away from that piece of tech. Try and become more present in the moment. If you're sat in a waiting room, why not pick up a magazine - they don't seem to engross us as much as mobile phones. Maybe even just sit and appreciate what you can see instead. How about striking up a conversation with somebody and having a 'moment' with them. You never know it might brighten up their day, or even better, yours for that matter.
Don't let us all be sucked into staring at screens for hours on end - especially if you have been working at a screen all day. Why not come home and go for a walk. Sit outside (wrapped up if necessary) and enjoy the fresh air and the outdoors. Let's go back to that life when we didn't care what 'such and such' was doing on social media. Let's pick up a book and read it instead. Meet a friend for a coffee and keep your phone away in your bag. Let's be a little more present in the moment, you'll never believe what you've been missing...
Thanks so much for reading,
Big love,
Em x