I was travelling recently and forgot to bring my charger. Shocker, I know. But it was only interstate and for a couple days. I decided instead of buying another one, i’d just share with my mum [who I was travelling with] and just eliminate unnecessary use throughout the day so it wouldn’t die fast.
This meant not listening to podcasts while getting ready and walking to get coffee or groceries, not listening to music while commuting and saving my replies for the end of the day when we’d be back at the hotel. Just pure necessities – maps, payments, booking transport and ticketing. It was a nice change actually. Sometimes the annoying sound of conversation, traffic and bustling can make for a decent white noise. Your mind will only be bothered by all the commotion if you focus on it, but you’d be surprised how loud your thoughts can be. They tend to take over and all that city sound just becomes a backing track. I think we get uncomfortable or just not used to hearing our own thoughts sometimes, even though we’re always thinking, even when consuming something visual or audial. We always have that never ending check list in our brains that we never tend to and just keep pushing it back and back, drowning it in another song or podcast or whatever it is we’re consuming.
Usually in such situations, I tend to do what I do best and people watch. I love to observe and I also hate the incessant need to be glued to our devices. Don’t get me wrong, I am guilty of it too. I’m writing on a device now, but something I observed in myself is I hate the useless time spent on devices, not the useful. I also believe, across the board, that too much of anything isn’t good for you. Its okay to take a break. We use our phones to EVERYTHING. Literally everything. I hate to sound like the hippie that I usually do but it is important to seperate from it when you can. Look out at scenery, do something creative with your hands, away from a screen – we are all creative beings, we don’t need to know how to mix music, or paint a portrait to exercise this god given muscle.
However, every now and again the time comes when one has to wait at a stop, wait at the table for their friend running late, fly overseas and not have a charger or book, etc. – then everyone’s immediate response is to grab their phone. And rightfully so, I mean what a time we live in where we can do that. Of course I’d like to think the greater population of cities are grabbing their phone in waiting rooms to learn something or tend to one of those tasks on their to do list, but the unfortunate reality is people will just grab their phones and doom scroll. I’m not judging, you do you boo. But this is what got me thinking…
How wonderful would it be if there was pencil and paper readily available everywhere. You could draw, you could brainstorm, you could write out your to do list in your head so you can actually see it all out, or even just write your thoughts. Heck, fold it into origami or a paper plane – anything to get us using our hands like children again. And what a useful and effective tool we’ve learnt in recent years, just the power of writing down your thoughts. But unless we dedicate a specific time of day to do it, we’ll forget, or it isn’t a priority or its just too time consuming. I love to write, but most of my writing is on a screen. my hand just can’t keep up with my thoughts but every now and again, I will go back to paper. Usually to write something meaningful, where i’m happy to take my time. Writing [the physical practice of it] is actually another hobby of mine if you could believe I have another. I love to cursive write especially. Its satisfying and fun to do and its like a form of art to me.
In my ideal world, in every uber or taxi, at every station, waiting room and on every aeroplane, there is an abundant supply of paper and pencil, to give people at the very least, an option to take a break from their screens to do something else with their time for once. Most importantly, having paper and pencil gives you an opportunity to put something out and not take in. We are constantly being force fed information, good, bad, irrelevant. But alone with just a pencil and paper, now no matter what you do with it, its something that came out of you, created by you. Its as important as getting out in nature which we all know, we already have a limited practice in.
Anywhooooo, just some food for thought. Don’t take anything I say too seriously – I don’t.
Oh and side note – I haven’t been writing lately. Well not here at least. I’ve been writing a lot actually, definitely less than I should but I’m writing elsewhere, not that anyone would notice anyway. But if I’m ever reading this back, i’ll remember that this was the season I finally committed to real writing.
Peace.