My life was on my iPhone. Contacts for everyone I’ve ever met for the past nearly four years, my music, my apps. I was addicted to the WordPress and Pandora apps, in addition to a public radio app. And lest we not forget Facebook, or the endless photos I’ve shot of the boys as they grow…
I had a conversation with someone yesterday afternoon about just how dependent we are and how convenient smartphones are. Then, I swear not thirty minutes later, mine was dropped face-down on the asphalt outside a local coffee shop. I swore and picked it up, thinking it was fine…after all, I can’t count the many times I’ve dropped my phone. It’s rolled down the stairs, it’s been dropped on concrete before. I really thought my phone was close to indestructible. And of course, the kicker is…I despise phone cases.
Jared and I went back and forth about what to do. I know that the screen can be replaced, but that was more than I want to spend in the next couple of months. And selfishly, I look at this as an opportunity to disconnect. As long as I had a smartphone, I will use its features and absorb myself in them, even at the risk of being rude to those around me. The safer thing for me is to not fix the phone I had (for now, until we’re ready to sell it), the more logical thing was for me to get onto the carrier that everyone I know uses so most calls will be free. The bravest thing (and incidentally, the cheapest fix if I wanted to fix it in the moment, which I did), was to go back to an early 2000s-model style flip-phone.
I bought the cheapest flip-phone that Wal-Mart sells, with a prepaid plan on my family and most friends’ carrier. I can still call people and I can still text. I view it as a good thing that it’s not as easy to text, as I sort of despise it anyway. I do still have web access on my phone, though it is soooo slllooowww… I will only be using that in “emergencies.”
This change will eventually cut our phone bill in half. I am very excited both about the money-part and the new resolution to help me disconnect from technology, even if it’s just a little bit. It’s an unexpected new year’s resolution, but it’s a welcome one nonetheless.
