“What did you do before cell phones?” my 11-year-old son inquired with an air of disbelief. His comment got me thinking, recollecting days when endless amounts of information was not at our fingertips every second of the day. I am fortunate enough to be alive before the invention of our more recent advances in technology. In fact, I am old enough to remember having to actually talk on a phone attached to a wall jack. I remember phones with mile long spiral cords, that had a tendency to bunch into a ball of plastic if you walked around too much, and subsequently holding said phone upside down so it could spin furiously to unravel the tangle. I remember the anticipation and excitement of the invention of call waiting, that little beep that told you someone else was trying to get through on the line. So, what did we do before cell phones? We frankly did not know the exact location, emotional status and menus of 200 hundred of our friends. Technology, the internet, cell phones, smart phones have changed our lives in amazing ways, but perhaps at a cost. Our lives are faster, our minds are full and our idle time seems non-existent. Somehow, we have pugged ourselves into frenetic energy in such a way we have a hard time unplugging. We multi-task constantly, distracting ourselves with distraction. But what are we distracting ourselves from? 

This question led me to take some time over the holidays to consciously unplug from distraction and see what I would find on the other side. I chose to do a distraction detox. This meant I put my phone down and only checked in one time a day for texts. It meant I stopped looking at Facebook, Instagram, Netflix and twitter for ten days. I checked my email once a day. I went on a technological distraction fast and the results were fascinating.

I found myself feel a bit panicky at first, as if the whole world was happening without me. I noticed my hands subconsciously seeking my phone and my fingers itching to swipe something, my energy antsy and anxious . Yet, at the same time I felt a sense of deep relief surge through like a deep longing I had since forgotten as I realized how very exhausted I was. After a few days, I noticed I felt more relaxed, certainly more positive and much more clear. I noticed I was sleeping better and awakened more energized.  As the days went on, I found myself being more and more comfortable just being and more energized. I found myself going on long walks or just sitting outside starting at the intersection of blue sky and evergreen limb. My mind began to drift in a familiar but forgotten way as it meandered easily to future projects, ideas and possibilities.  I had flashes of insight and sparks of creativity that ignited a sense of inspiration and purpose. It was if cleared away the minutiae to make room for new ideas. I created enough space so my mind could be mine again.

So, what had I been distracting myself from? I had been distracting myself from myself. I was blocking the flow of my own authentic expression with other people’s lives, observations, ideas, gossip, fantasies, illusions and tragedies. I was comparing, judging, criticizing, and filling my mind with bits of data that were irrelevant to my own journey and were instead exhausting, draining and addicting. My distraction was fragmenting my focus in such a way I had lost touch with my own purpose and desire, blocking my own destiny from expanding.

Technology isn’t going anywhere and I honestly don’t want it to. Certainly, it can be a powerful way to share ideas and connect in innovative ways. What we need is balance. We need the inhale and we need the exhale. We need to be the plugged into ourselves and to be plugged into world. Where we spend our time, where we focus our energy, becomes our lives after all. Where is your focus? Do you feel scattered, uninspired, drained or overwhelmed? Perhaps it is time for a distraction detox to create some space and connect back to YOU.