Notifications

Bit of a jumble of thoughts today, but here goes...

It's a funny thing this technology age.
Part of me loves it, and part of me hates it. You see, there's something great about being able to go off the grid, but if you dare to do so, even for a few hours these days without telling someone, people seem to assume something is wrong. The stress that appears when a message is only showing as sent and not delivered, where could they be thats not on wifi, is their phone broken, are they okay?
Some people out there will try and convince you that wifi and the radio waves used are bad for your health. Personally, I find this hard to believe, but interpreted another way you could argue that it is. I don't think the waves are the harmful bit, I think it's the dependency. There's such a desire to be liked in society today, not in an emotional way, but in a click of a button way, this is what causes harm to people.
I went for a swim this afternoon, I was in the pool for no more than 45 minutes, 18 notifications waiting for me on my phone once I was back in the changing rooms. What's so beautiful about swimming is there is no wifi, no phone signal, no radios, no music. It's like putting yourself into airplane mode. It's just up and down, counting my strokes and my breathing, trying to line up the breaths with the markers on the pool floor, judging the distance for the turn. I guess it's a state of mindfulness. Focusing on nothing outside of that moment.
Last year when stress was coming from every angle possible, on my half days I'd drive out to the New Forest (Hampshire) and go for a walk. Often not planned but I always managed to find my way back to the car. Funily enough, there's no wifi there, or phone signal for that matter. Sometimes I'd take a camera, it's amazing how you find yourself looking so much more carefully at what's going on around you when you're holding a lens. Thinking critically about will that make a good photo. Not for Instagram, but just would it make a good photo.

A weird thing I've found myself doing since starting Uni is watching trash TV on my laptop everyday, often for several hours. Yesterday, even when I was hanging up my washing. What has this come to, can I not function without some narrative or noise going on at the same time, am I really that dependent on technology? I made a point of not taking headphones to walk to the gym, going to attempt to wean myself a little
I'm pretty sure I've gone about this in the most roundabout way possible but I guess I'm trying to say to take time out from technology. Whether it's setting up quiet hours on your phone (mine is 10pm-8am) so you can properly sleep, or just going to talk to a flat/house mate rather than messaging them (guilty of this). Find a place or activity where it's just you, no external thought or pokes or notifications or buzzes, whilst gadgets are popping up everywhere to do everything for us, it's important to take time off. You are an independent human being who doesn't need noise in your ear every hour of the day.
All the best,
Bea x