I Am Divorced

 

Dear Zach,

I want to make a simple post about my divorce.

 

I am divorcing my phone.

 

Divorcing myself from my smart phone or dumb phone that I used to love to cling with so much as though I couldn’t live a day without it. I know it’s felt so cool to be able to swipe left to right, up and down for the awesome interface you’ve had never tried before. It’s also cool to have such cool gadget to be able to constantly update your social medias on ease of your palm with a right tap away. I know the temptation to check on the updates of the photo you posted online saying how stressful you are in which you are not, but wanting to seek some attention just for the sake of getting likes for the photos. And the games are fun to play with.

But, please, put it aside. Or hide in your bag. And enjoy living for the moment without those gadget tagging around. Learn to put it down when you are having conversation with others over a meal. Learn to put it aside when people are talking to you directly in your face about things that matter. Learn to put it down when you are having a dinner with your family, because they are what matter the most. Learn to put it in your pocket when you are walking on the road because you wouldn’t want yourself to get hurt by just a gadget that makes you fall off from the pavement due to busying tapping away on your phone. Learn to adapt living the life without your phone around you, observing how different it is to be living in a world where everyone is hunching their back to look at the screen of the phone, while you are just sitting there with a cup of tea on the table, that’s it. I have adapted such manner that I wouldn’t put my phone on the table, by any chance, or put it inside my pocket. Even if I have nothing to talk about, I would just observe the surrounding people, take it as a chance to be an avid observer about people. Because I want to learn how life it was when there was no cool gadget around us for the last decades.

I know it’s an awkward start not to have your gadget around when you are sitting alone in the coffee shop. Not everyone could do this. Because to most people, not having your smart phone around makes them socially awkward. But having your smart phone with you makes you anti-social. I am trying my best not to constantly flip on my phone just to kill away my boredom. But most of the time I would leave my phone in my car. Because I just want to enjoy my quiet meal and tea, and the sound of people chattering around you, and my mundane life.

xx