To kick off our splendid April blog theme, “Relax and Rejuvenate,” I offered to give up my iPhone for the weekend. I know, I know, everyone in NY is doing it. Yawn. The truth is, I am so relaxed I can hardly stand it. I feel like I’ve been on vacation for a month. It’s creepy, really. Especially driving. With nothing to do except pay attention to the driving.
So why didn’t I just volunteer to go to the spa or do some yoga instead of unplugging—the Stacy Crinks equivalent of walking over burning sand with n’er a Tory Burch flip-flop in sight? Because it’s so thrilling to stress oneself to the max, isn’t it?!
Just the thought of unplugging led me to over-plan every single aspect of the weekend. “Hi everyone, Anna’s mom here, with the birthday party logistics part 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 39… and by the way, I am unplugging this weekend, so if you need to reach me, please call our home number or my husband’s cell, or email our eight-year-old…”
Because I wasn’t able to make calls or check email while away from home, I instead made mental lists of the people I needed to call the minute I got home. But then I got home and didn’t make the calls, because by that time, I was gazing into the eyes of the people I love and listening—truly listening, not half-listening while sneakily peeking at my phone. The to-do lists melted away. I became a completely unproductive slob.
The children and pets noticed my unusually relaxed state, and climbed onto my lap for extra cuddles. I held them with two hands. My husband poured me a large glass of red wine. I smiled at him and said, “Thanks,” instead of, “Hold on while I just finish this one quick text.” I went to bed when it was dark—without checking email first—and woke, sans alarm, when it was light. I slept a LOT LONGER than if I had known my iPhone were on the bedside table. It was, hmmmmm, really nice.
Articles like this can go one of two ways: “OMG! Unplugging was awful!” or “I loved having total freedom to stare peacefully into the sky and connect with my loved ones.” This morning, I did actually look out the window and admired the pink and blue sunrise before turning on the device. DU-DING! DU-DING! DU-DING! Three missed messages including one from a high school friend I had forgotten to meet on Sunday (sorry, Leigh!).
iPhone-free life over… for the moment.
This explains why I didn’t get any emails from you over the weekend. I was concerned.