Practicing Disconnection

Yesterday I read the article Bored...And Brilliant? A Challenge To Disconnect From Your Phone on NPR.

(You can read the article here)

For me the line that stuck most said:

"Studies suggest that we get our most original ideas when we stop the constant stimulation and let ourselves get bored..."

I resonante too much with the statement, this constant need for over stimulation. I began noticing the need for the stimulation in my sleeping habits. I found I couldn't fall asleep if I wasn't keeping my mind occupied. I literally would read until I feel asleep, most mornings I would wake up with my kindle in my hands.

I tried many times to try and change this but it wasn't up until recently that I was able to lie in bed without occupying my mind. Somehow, out of the blue, I started to gain the ability to meditate.

For a long time I thought maditation was about keeping my mind quiet and just sitting with myself in peace and relaxation, which it may be for some people.

For me though, it is about letting my thoughts run wild. I literally lay in bed and let my mind think about anything and everything but I do not let myself fret, it is the only thing I don't let myself do. I refuse to worry about what is in the past or what is in the future.

You should try it. It is quiet healing being able to think through the day and fully process it.

But I also feel like the idea of over stimulation stems further then just my sleeping habits.

I have been noticing an influx of people making a concerted effort to take a step away from technology and interact with what is surrounding them.

I have had a cell phone since I was 15. It was my 15th birthday present and I felt so connected to the world. Now that I look back though I cannot help but wonder what I have missed. It is so easy to stare into a little screen and let the world pass by.

I realize this idea I am speaking to isn't new for any of us but it is just really sinking in that technology is wreaking havoc with how I function.

When I was little I had a safety blanket, I loved that damn thing. I had it through high school and then  created it into a quilt for my mother. The cell phone is the new safety blanket for grown ups, it is an object we can hold that gives us a false sense of security.

But what does a day look like without technology? When it is just you and the world as one.

This is something I am going to work on. I want to see what I have been missing. Who knows what ideas I will come up with! This blog could get way more interesting...or weird.

Let the journey begin!

Writing about feeling disconnected has enabled me to connect, and that has been the most lovely thing of all -Marian Keyes