SOUL. No Service for the Soul.

When can you think back to a time where you did not look at your phone for more than 24 hours? Where you had no screens, no service. No phone for even taking pictures, or checking the time. I asked myself that recently, and my answer was “too long.” Having recently turned 32, maybe now I have the credo to say, “Back in my day, I remember when we didn’t have cell phones!” I know my baby boomer readers are likely rolling their eyes …

It is the trite truism that in being so connected digitally in the 21st century, we have lost connection to others and also to ourselves. I know I am not alone in feeling like I have become dependent on my phone, Wifi, cell service for living my daily life. I often try to ask myself: am I using my phone, or is my phone using me?

So the present I gave to myself for my 32nd birthday was almost 48 hours of no service, in the woods and with a natural hot springs, with my phone left in the car to not even care so much about time. What a gift indeed. I really cannot think of anything more precious than an opportunity to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with the natural (myself included in that). It was a sacred gift of time, of presence, of slowness, and of connection of a different sort.

A simple invitation, and perhaps also a challenge: can you find 24 hours of no service and leave your phone away, even for pictures? If anxiety is what you find in this challenge, that in and of itself may tell you something. I do think part of many health issues is the fact that we are so disconnected from our body’s cues, and our minds are so busy with tasks/feeds/onslaught of inundation and stimulation that distract us from said cues. Reconnection to through intentional disconnection from devices can contribute to your spiritual and mental wellbeing, and therefore your physical, too.

So do yourself a service and get to no service. It’s a gift you’re probably in need of - just like I was.