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- Aug 20, 2009
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Early on in my relationship with my wife, there was one day I just up and wandered out into the back yard, perhaps to smoke a joint or just inhale the fresh air, can't recall, but when I went back inside I found she'd tried messaging and calling me while I was gone and I missed it because I left my phone inside.I genuinely think most people have no idea how much their phone effects them. I'm a fairly serious meditator, and once or twice a year I'll do a week or so of silent meditation with zero interaction with technology, as well as regularly shutting everything off for a weekend. I would recommend everyone do this as often as possible - in those first moments of picking the phone back up, seeing the notifications roll in and starting to scroll through the endless stream of information, you can physically feel the effect its having on you - its like a drug and you get a noticeable headspace change from it. Its just that we're all on them so often we don't notice it. I also think the age at which you started using them drastically plays a part in how strong this effect is - if you've used them from a young age, you've wired your brain to constantly want that dopamine kick.
When I talked to her she was quite upset at not being able to immediately reach me and I said, "I married you, not the phone."