One of my favorite authors recently tweeted about celebrating his birthday in the mountains, with NO INTERNET ACCESS.
Among the hundreds of birthday wish comments, there were also people who “wished” to do the same for themselves and simply disconnect for some time. This simple wish raises an important question:
Why should our existence become questionable at the prospect of not having any connectivity?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to find solitude in an always-connected world, where our minds pay more attention to outside noise as opposed to reflecting on ourselves. This has given birth to a new phobia named Nomophobia – NOMObilePhobia, or a fear of being without cellphones. It may sound trivial, but this has resulted in unwanted consequences on our lifestyles. I know you are secretly agreeing to having this problem or know somebody who is facing this, which is why it is important to understand the implications of this addiction:
1. MENTAL CLEANSE
Unplug, power down, go off the grid – call it anything you want, but this simple act is your way to cleanse your mind. 33% of people have admitted to feeling dissatisfied with their lives after visiting Facebook. There are countless reasons for feelings of envy, anxiety, loneliness or depression that are a by product of social media, and unplugging for some time can provide the necessary mental cleanse our constant mind chattering requires. Here’s a starting point : Don’t carry your phone to your yoga class!
2. LIFE IS HERE AND NOW
Picture yourself at the top of the Eiffel Tower and not having a cell phone or internet to update your location status. Did Paris disappear or your world come crashing down? The constant urge to publicize trivial details of our lives followed by unending anticipation for validation has obscured life’s reality. Disconnect in order to cherish the beauty life has to offer, only seeking validation in the form of moments that take your breath away!
3. NOMO(re) FOMO
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out is an emerging psychological disorder where a person has a constant feeling of being left out. With ceaseless notifications from social media, from friends vacationing to parties to family gatherings, the uneasiness emerging from our online presence has successfully infused our brains with more fear. It’s time to recognize the negative impact and find contentment in our present space.
Quit aspiring to live someone else’s life and start your journey to make your life more fulfilling!
4. REMEMBER YOUR REAL FRIENDS?
Remember how you would shout your lungs out to call your friends to play your favorite game? Now even before you answer a call from one of your friends, you have a hundred questions about the reasons for the call. The caller ID allows you to question the conversation before even having one! When did those endless conversations turn to short text messages, leaving no room for sharing true emotions or feelings?
It’s time you quit having those deep conversations in your head and pick up the phone and call your real friend. No, don’t text before you make the call asking for permission. JUST CALL!
5. SAY GOODBYE TO CONSUMERISM
Most often when you are online, you are essentially consuming something – whether you are watching a video, playing a game, reading the news or even shopping online. While this has become the primary mode of entertainment and acquiring information, we find ourselves to be consuming more as opposed to creating. Less number of hours are spent in order to offer solutions to problems and having a strict disconnection regime can provide valuable time towards creating real solutions.
Am I saying you need to delete all your accounts and go ninja with your digital footprint? No way! We live in the age of technology and its important to accept it as a part of our lives. However, we are certainly losing the ability to draw a line between our real and virtual lives, while our virtual lives slowly and creepily take over our existence.
Like Paulo Coelho, let’s learn to Celebrate the reality of Life through Disconnection once in a while. Not just on birthdays, maybe once every week, but take a pledge to cherish your life for what it really is.
I hope this post touched upon an issue we tend to ignore. In one of my previous posts – A Mind in Chains – Preventing Social Media Addiction, I have also talked about various ways to avoid this addiction. If you have some great ideas or stories worth sharing, please share them in your comments. I look forward to hearing from you all!
Carpe Diem!
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Digital detoxing! It’s a brilliant habit to get into. Too easily do we fall into the habit of living our lives through our phones! Thank you for such a thought provoking piece. We will share this with our readers.
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Thank you for reading 😊 glad you found it useful
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Life without a cell phone is impossible for today’s youth, but I miss those old days specially my school days when internet was not discovered… We enjoyed those days fully.
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Great article! It’s right up my alley and very inspiring. As a matter of fact, I’m planning on posting something about disconnecting when heading out into nature soon for my Happier Place website. At that point, I might like to quote your post, if you don’t mind.
xx Luci
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Thank you for reading Luci!! I’m glad you liked the post.
You can definitely quote this post whenever you are out in the woods 😊
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Wow I didn’t know about a lot of this, especially FOMO. I think I tend to get that a lot. Wish I had the courage to go a day without my phone and connectivity but I think it would make me anxious x
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Thanks for reading Ruth😊
Try going without connectivity for a day and you will see the difference
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I like this concept so much. True that connectivity is healthy too but we must always find a balance. We must also connect with our inner selves, and disconnecting from the outside world gives us the chance to listen to out thoughts better, and refresh 🤗 thank you for this!💖
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Thank you for reading 😊🙏 happy to know you liked it
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Like this concept! I’ve done a digital detox of two weeks this summer (went camping so I couldn’t be tempted). By the end, I was ready to kill someone. We do have to disconnect sometimes but internet has also turned into one of our base needs…
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I agree it’s always a good idea to just disconnect once in a while. We get so busy and distracted with everyday life and just disconnecting and reflecting on yourself is great!
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Agreed. Sometimes it’s the most important of any rest. To disconnect from everything including modern electronics etc
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This is an important topic but I literally laughed out loud at that double click the nose comic.
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Haha thanks for reading Jen 😊
Good to know you had a good laugh 😂
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Such a great topic. This should be given attention. We all need a disconnection sometimes and I agree that it can help us for mental cleanse
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I was just chatting about this with a friend and how liberating it feels to dedicate time to just being quiet and alone. It really does help with clearing your mind.
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Digital detoxing is actually necessary. We are constantly being fed information 24/7, our brain does need a rest.
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I agree, our mind is being fed information 24/7. It needs to disconnect and take a digital cleaning.
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Disconnecting is so important! My husband and I have done little things to help us disconnect like leaving our phones out of the bedroom, or putting them away when we are playing with the kids.
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It’s so stressful to be connected all the time! I try to leave my phone in another room (if I’m not expecting a call/text) just to give myself mental breaks.
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Wow that was just a great read! I try as much as I can to get away from the internet but its hard when its your job…..
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Thank you 😊
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I am planning to do this for my birthday next year. I will go camping at a remote area. Far from technology.
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yes yes yes! ive been having mini detoxes every few weeks even since ive relocated to china and also because vpn can be slow at times so it does have its advantages haah
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Just in time. I just need this. Thank you for reminding me about self detox. Should go hiking this weekend. 🙂
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Great Topic… I will try this one tooo… LOL… now i understand why someone wants to be alone sometimes far from everyone, and social media.
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glad i read this
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