Of Course This Happened When I Went Out Without My Phone

Have you ever completely disconnected and instantly regretted it?

Extra long right arm lady created by Canva AI 😂

Obviously winter was a long one because I forgot how to do spring yesterday. I went for a sunshine walk….but forgot to take my cell phone along.

I was ten minutes into the walk before I realized I’d forgotten it. Already too far to turn back without wasting time.

“I can do this,” I thought to myself while all the emergency reasons I carry my phone flooded my mind. It made me twitch with discomfort for a few minutes. But I kept walking, determined not to let it ruin me.

What’s the worst that could happen?

A lot, if you think about it…

First, no earbuds to listen to music. Instead, I had to listen to birds chirping, the sound of my shoes on the gravel pathway, and the wind in my ears. Can you imagine? The nerve of natural sounds.

Or, I could have easily fallen on the pathway and been devoured by a street gang of diabolical fire ants and had no way to call for help. Well then, I guess that would be God’s way of telling me it was my time.

I could have been stung by a bee for the first time, not knowing I was anaphylactic. No way to call for help. But again, that would be God and his sick sense of humor.

Without earbuds, I was subjected to the sound of a bee buzzing behind my head which made all my hair stand on end. I’m deathly afraid of the sound. So, I flailed my arms and picked up my pace.

What if I saw a pretty flower and couldn’t take a picture? I guess if I felt so compelled by its beauty, the flower would still be there tomorrow and I could go for another walk.

I could have missed a text message from my mother asking if I wanted to go for a walk. Instead, I was able to walk in solitude consumed by my own thoughts.

I could have had to pee halfway through the walk. Wait….I DID have to pee halfway. It only made me walk faster.

Worst case scenario, I could have missed 38 notifications from Substack.

What actually happened without my phone?

I said good morning to a couple of other walkers.

I passed by one walker who was so busy talking on his phone that he ignored my presence. He also ignored the fact that his dog walked beside me and not him, because I actually paid attention to the dog.

I turned my eyes toward the blue sky and noticed a bright, white chem trail from an airplane millions of miles above.

I hummed my own tune in my head for the entire walk.

My mom didn’t text me.

I didn’t miss 38 notifications, I missed 43 of them….and it was glorious.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for staying in touch but we are FAR too connected. So much that we forget how to do life without being tethered to something.

Whatever happens on the other end of that phone is going to happen whether the phone is with us or not.

So put it down! Go enjoy your life!

I can’t lie, I had a much different plan for today’s newsletter but family, hospitals, and life got in the way of the time I needed to put something more epic together.

However, the whole “life happens” thing just supports the point I’m trying to make here. We can’t be awesome ALL the time! We can’t be constantly connected.

But we can still show up.

Have you ever completely disconnected and instantly regretted it? I haven’t.

Love the thought of disconnecting? This post from the archives will make you want to skip town and never come back:

Believe It Or Not, You're Allowed to Dodge Social Media on Your Birthday