How an Existentialist / Tech Geek Disconnects
I was raised in a household full of computer programmers and engineers, often hearing my parents name drop things like "the mainframe," and "application wireframes." While I didn't grow up to become a software tekkie so to speak, my love for all things technology have been thoroughly cultivated by my career evolution into a multimedia journalist.
I spend all day in front of two computer screens, a phone screen, a tablet screen, pretty much any screen I can find. It's intoxicating. The thirst for knowledge, news and information in general is incredibly overwhelming. The way we search for information is almost like an existentialist quest to discover who we are, defining our essence with each successive search. We look downwards at the glowing orb of potential in our hands. We bump into things, not even looking around us, or to see who is there.
These are three things that I use to disconnect from technology, even if it is for a few needed moments at a time.
1 Running in Nature
Nothing makes you forget what you're missing in News Feed than your whole body searing with pain, your lungs about to explode, your legs about to break off. Reminding yourself that your body is a machine, not a screen-reader, helps sometimes. If you see wildlife, you'll want to pull out your camera and take a picture of it. Don't—the sounds will frighten the animals and you'll miss the picture entirely. Look at the wonders of nature intensely, and don't blink. Now you're in the moment.
2 The Pleasure of Paper
Sometimes I experience an actual freak out and all I want is a notebook and a pen. A keyboard doesn't always keep up with the rhythm of your thoughts the way a pen, being moved by your own hand, does. Keep a journal. Remember the little moments in your day in between Google searches and news articles.
3 Books
Why have we forgotten books? I always used to say, I would never trust anyone who doesn't read, but now we're all readers online, on our phones. Books smell good. They feel good in your hand, and they have some pretty interesting things to share. Turn off the television and pick up a copy of an old favorite or a new book on something you've always wanted to read. Pretty soon you'll notice that your mind starts creating images by itself, your imagination starts coming back to life. Characters have their own voices, you can smell the countryside. Comic books work just as well, too.
