So I've been off the grid for the past two weeks in more ways than one. Not only did I leave my computer at home for my vacation, but I inadvertently left my cell phone, too. Horrors!
I was in a panic when I realized I'd left it up in our bedroom, charging in the docking station. I spent the next four hours in low level anxiety, trying to problem solve ways for my husband to MAIL me my phone, even though I didn't really need it. By the end of the day, I was still shaken, but hopeful of a plan to get the phone across the border to Canada one way or the other.
But after a few days, when I started to realize that I really didn't need it that much (I virtually turn it off while we're out of the country, to avoid all those pesky roaming charges), I gave up on putting my husband through mail order hell to deliver something to me I didn't need but was merely addicted to.
I was able to check my email on my mom's computer, which satisfied my inner tech beast's daily requirement of screen time. But I learned something valuable: something I thought was SO vital, SO essential to my daily life, just wasn't. It was a non-issue.
I had worried, natch, about flying home with two kids and no phone for logistics, but we managed perfectly well and didn't need a text play by play to meet my husband at the baggage claim. We just met there. No phone needed.
So I got myself a healthy dose of humble pie; I do not need to be a slave to my phone. I fear many of us are, and the trend to have our faces aimed at screens for much of the day is not my idea of a wonderful world. This experience taught me to let go, yet again proving that Buddhism is the most sensible philosophy I know.
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