This is not the first time I’m going off-grid and taking time for myself, but it’s my first time in these two weeks since the beginning of the academic year. And it was all worth it – I re-energized myself and focused on the activates I was doing as well as enjoying the time with my friends.
I’ve never been to the gym without my phone because I always listen to the playlists and use some apps for workouts. So, it was not that challenging. Rather, it was really cool. I took my watch with my to use it as a stopwatch and relied on the playlist going on in the gym. They’ve got some nice music playing over there that I really enjoyed. I did feel like an outsider because majority of the people had their headphones on, but I realized I actually enjoyed working out without any device in my possession.
The Dining Hall experience was interesting because I completely forgot about the time and focused on eating my food slowly. Even though I went there without a pre-scheduled dinner plan with friends, I still met some of the people I meet every day; this time was different. We got the chance to talk more than we’d talk when we all bring our phones with us. The conversation lasted for one-and-a-half hour, not realizing we were there for that long – usually we would eat fast, chat a little bit, and leave. This time we talked about different topics including politics and post-graduation plans.
The most valuable part of the experience was the one going out. Having observed how most of the people in the clubs use mobile phones to take multiple pictures and post “the coolest” Instagram stories, etc. (I do the same things many times), I realized we do not take time to enjoy life, ourselves and the time spent with those surrounding us. Without my phone, I felt like I was back in my parents’ youth, which I actually enjoyed a lot; I could dance to the music and have fun with friends not focusing on who is going to see my story or like my new post (I actually realized that my parents had lots of fun when they were going out).
This whole experience reminded me that disconnecting yourself from the internet can give you a different perspective on the world and the type of life you are actually living most of the time. It served as a lesson for me that IT IS OKAY not to rely on any technological devices. However, I did feel bad for not replying to my family on the messages for more than 8 hours as they can get worried – it is daytime, I’m offline and am not receiving their messages. Speaking of this, maybe they should also try this “experiment” – and maybe not very frequent communication between both sides would be beneficial in future.
