‘Notice the small things’ online challenge

24 Aug, 2023

So the idea of this online challenge is to be online less often (or at least – more thoughtfully). So, it’s kind of an ‘offline challenge’ I suppose. It’s both. Let’s go with that, and get into the good stuff. Like where it came from, and how I think we’re going to enjoy and benefit from it. Onward…

Our phones have taken more away from us than a bit of boredom. If anything, they have in fact created and cultivated that boredom in us by unteaching us the life skill of finding (or creating) something interesting to do. Remember the weird games that we made up in the sandbox when we were young? It’s baffling to remember the worlds and stories that we created from pieces of cardboard, rocks, random bits of garbage, and a muddy puddle every day as we ventured out and fell upon our neighborhood pals. I know it wasn’t just me 🙂

But now, these mighty little phone beasts have erased our attention, our passions, excitement, wonder, creativity, curiosity, a desire to move around, and our connection to others. And they have replaced all of that with debt, anxiety, aloneness, desperation, lethargy, sadness, apathy, uncertainty, insecurity and isolation. And if they haven’t quite created those thing in us, they have certainly amplified them. Somehow, it came on gently enough that we all just took it on, and accepted it as our best and brightest option. But it just doesn’t feel like a fair deal. And yet, here we are, chomping at the bit to get our phone into our hand as soon as we gain our morning consciousness and dust away the crusted remnants of our strange dreams from our eyes…

What can we do about it?

Everyday, with a brain full of bombarding, desperate apps, websites, and adds scratching, and smashing for our attention (and our money)–we are the victims. Every single day we’re the victim to the slithering advertisements that clamour to get a piece of our attention. If we’ll look; we’ll see their adds. And if we’re feeling insecure; we’ll more likely buy their products. And with that, the perfect plan has been created, and is underway, everyday. They make us insecure and sell us something when we’re at our weakest. Our insecurities pays their bills.

The online challenge

So this is my idea. Instead of eating laundry detergent, or slapping someone in the face with a tortilla, lets just put our phone down, and not use the internet for the day. Every Tuesday sounds good? But, choose your day as you see fit. Sounds good to me. And, there will be no hashtag to bring us together, or social media meeting place. But there may just be a few more people living their life, that may be willing to acknowledge us as we walk down the street. Fewer people inadvertently walking into us because their attention is elsewhere.

Step 1 of online challenge

Every morning, (even on ‘phone days’) we will step past our phone as we awaken for the day and towards a journal. Before we even think of grabbing our phone, let’s grab a writing book, or a few pages of looseleaf, and write a page or two (or three). Start the day letting some things out, instead of letting the internet into our soft fragile ‘morning mind’.

And that’s it, a day with no phone, and starting your consciousness off with a bit of pen to paper. Write whatever you want. This idea of morning writing came to me from Julia Cameron’s, ‘The artist’s way’ a book I would recommend to anyone who is interested in dusting off the the smog of living that settles in as we get tangled in ‘life stuff’, and set down our creative wonder. Here’s a little review from Goodreads, if you’re curious 🙂

Step 2 of online challenge

Find something to do instead of grabbing your phone. For this, think back to young you… what did you like to do? Doodle, drawing, birdwatching, lego, comics, poetry, tamagotchi (don’t knock it! the newer versions are quite awesome, and they’re so easy to have close when it’s time to clean up their poo lol), solitary games (not on the phone). Think it through! There are so many cool things that we can do with our rightful pieces of time. Crocheting, knitting, doing puzzles, writing an opera, scientific experiments, literally anything that you can have close when you feel like grabbing it. Just like a phone, but creative and fun, and fulfilling. (ok, not at all like a phone)

I got a new sketch pad from the dollar store, covered it in a selection of my favorite stickers, and I have it next to me. Oh my gosh, it is fun to doodle! You should see my new snail! And my little avocado people 🙂

Just do some good ol’ thinking about what creative endeavor might be fun and accessible for you! If you need something to set up your new online challenge (offline challenge), be sure to stock the supplies (yarn, binoculars, test tubes etc)

The world has become hidden. Most people don’t see those magical little moments that we would have before our phones hid our view. So, see it. A leaf fluttering to the ground, it’s colors lighting up the day, a breezy tree; just happy to be, a piece of cement turned to a melted rainbow, glazed by gasoline on a rainy day, or a squirrel vying for your attention (or your french fries). It doesn’t matter, just let it be your moment to enjoy 🙂

A step into the ‘real’ world

On Tuesday (the day that I refrain from any internet usage, and most certainly from my phone) I went for a walk to a noodle restaurant with my husband. We chatted the whole way, reminiscing on our 14th anniversary about the years that we’d been together. As we ate, a family of four came in. They stood waiting for a second – no word or sound from the group of them.

The waitress lead them over to there table. They all sat down, shuffling quietly into their seats. They ordered. And my husband and I continued to chat. I glanced over inconspicuously. I was dumbfounded to see every single one of them slumped over, seemingly mesmerized by their phones. Quiet. Lifeless. Alone. But these days, there is no one to notice this sad, odd version of us living our lives. Because everyone is too busy looking at their own phone to notice how tragically lonely and sad it looks to be us.

…We took the long way back. I wanted to walk by the feisty bubbling brook, instead of going up the busy street filled with frustrated drivers making their way home after their days work.

As we stepped onto the grey stone path, we were enveloped by the sound of the water happily and powerfully making its way through its own chosen path. The green leaves were vast and exuberant having spent their time productively with several months of summers growth under their belts. Slowly we got closer to a woman who had made a resting place on a hefty, flat rock facing away from the water.

Her head cocked sideways facing down. Like she was catatonic. Unwell. She reminded me a woman that I see sometimes when I visit my dear uncle in his care home. Her head tilts unnaturally. She’s unresponsive. I silently hope she’s content when I see her. I got closer still to the woman, enough to see her glistening eyes focused on what she held. Her left thumb scrolling upwards. She didn’t notice us.

Her dog sat still next to her, poised, and patient. He quickly noticed us as we stepped closer. He seemed confused, board, content. He’d hoped for a walk, but mom got distracted… “It’s still nice to be outside” I could hear him thinking with true doggly positivity. I quietly said hello to him. The owner didn’t notice me. She was busy, bathed in blue light as the day (and the brook) bolstered on. We all deserve this online challenge. All of us, and the ones we love.

Conclusion

Our life wasn’t meant to be the way that it is now. We’re not meant to have phones leaking advertisements over our tired minds for the whole of our days. It’s not good for us. We didn’t have this drug, this stealer of productivity and original thought. Back a few years ago, we had time to just be. We’d go for a walk, and listen to the breeze. We’d shoot the shit with the man walking his dog. But now, like a tick, we grab our phone at any ‘ping’, ‘dig’, or ‘thud-bump’.

The things that make life worth living get squashed, smudged, and blatantly missed by the mindless use of our phone. We miss them at best, and destroy them at worst. The specks of beauty, synchronicity, softness, even sadness; they flutter by us like hummingbird, stopping in mid-flight to look inquisitively at our face as we look deeply into the light of our phone. We miss them, their lessons, their treasures. They fly past us, to the next sugar laden flower. We miss the flowers too.

Thank you so much for reading my thoughts,

It means everything to me 🙂