Would I Be Happier if I Got Offline Altogether?
My phone makes me anxious and I want to be free
I often wonder how I spent my time before I had a smart phone — heck, before there was even an internet. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and I remember talking on a phone with a curly string attached, dragging it down the hall and into my room for privacy.
I remember that our summer home did not have a TV. On purpose. We played games, walked to town, sat on the porch and watched the storms roll over the mountains. We read a lot of books. We gardened and baked bread and went to the lake where we skied, and swam, and just hung out on the boat.
We have a choice
My husband and I have not had a TV for 12 years. On purpose. But we have made up for it by having smart phones. I sometimes think we would be better off with a TV and no smart phones. Smart phones are portable. TVs are not.
I was 35 before I ever owned a computer. That was in 1997. I had no idea what this new technology would mean to me and to the world in the decades that followed. Everything was a shiny possibility in those days, with people being able to send email, and museums putting their collections online to be viewed. It was the innocent youth of internet content.
