Unplug Yourself

As I walked to lunch today after my last class, taking in the surprisingly warm winter air and enjoying the sweet sun, warming my cheeks,  I suddenly noticed a girl unsteadily walking straight at me. Hands down in front of her, she clutched on to her purple, bedazzled iPhone, texting away in her own little world. I barely swayed out of her way in time to avoid a head-on collusion that she probably wouldn't have even noticed anyways. Rolling my eyes, I continued walking and spotted my friend across the street who seemed to be looking right at me. I cheerfully waved at her, expecting her to do the same. But she just stood there, blankly staring back in my direction, looking dazed and distant. Her lips were moving and her head was bobbing up and down. Then I noticed two little white buds in her ears, "Of course," I thought, "listening to her iPod." I met up with another friend and began to tell her about my weekend plans, the car trouble I was having, and the cute guy in my statistics class when she suddenly interrupts me, "Huh?" she looked up as if she hadn't heard a single word I just said. "Sorry, I was texting. What did you say?" With these three technological tizzy's all happening within about five minutes of each other, I was forced to stop and asked myself, how often am I the one who is constantly plugged in? I'll admit, I'm rarely further than 10 feet away from my phone and I almost constantly have at least a few people I'm texting throughout the day. When I'm not on my iPhone, I'm on my Mac Skyping, Facebooking, emailing, even blogging. Today I got an outsider's view on how all of these digital addictions can effect other people. I realized how much I must miss out on when I distract myself with a consuming computer or hand-held device. I instantly wanted to unplug my life and reintroduce myself to face-to-face, personal, real interactions with the world around me. Challenge yourself to use technology as little as you can for just one day and see how you feel after wards. Notice the weather, the people around you, the life that exists outside of a screen.