Less phone, more quiet

Published 11:44 am Monday, April 10, 2017

Sitting in a courtroom, a movie theater, or anywhere that you aren’t allowed to have a phone or smart device, can be a stark reminder of just how ubiquitous these devices have become in our lives. They can help fill our every spare moment, so that we never need be completely at leisure or bored.

There are surely some advantages to smart technology. Thanks to the magic of micro-computing, you need never be far that book you just started reading. Reading, surely, is a time-honored recreation, and nothing to be ashamed of, be it electronically or in print.

Likewise the convenience of having maps, music, reference materials, a calendar and day planner, a camera, and an audio-recorder, all at your fingertips, cannot be overstated.

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There isn’t even anything wrong with playing games to help pass the time when you’re waiting.

But one thing that may be suffering from this omnipresent technology is our time for contemplation, and our ability to do so.

Not only do we often fill our spare time with activity and stimulation, rather than taking time to consider things we have just experienced or are experiencing, we often have a need to share our impressions as soon as they occur to us. Rather than weighing and considering our thoughts first, we jump to share them on Facebook or Twitter as soon as they occur to us, for good or for ill.

Do this little experiment, next time you are someplace quiet, waiting for something, take stock of how long you sit with your own thoughts before you go reaching for your phone.

If you are someplace where you are not allowed to have your smart device out, see how many times you instinctively go to reach for it before remembering you aren’t supposed to have it out. Ask yourself if maybe you could benefit from a little less screen time, and a little more quiet contemplation.

You may answer “no”, but no one has been hurt yet by thinking a little extra before they speak. Staying quiet hasn’t ever hurt anyone’s feelings. Can you say the same thing of all your hastily shared thoughts to social media?