Today as Mr. Universe and I drove off to breakfast, I realized I forgot my phone at home. He offered to turn around but I quickly replied “no”. The thought of being untethered was refreshing and exactly what I needed on a Sunday morning.
We sat down, ordered our food, and Mr. Universe excused himself to use the restroom. As he stood up, my brain immediately thought
“Get your phone and see what’s happening online. Surely there’s something you need to look up…read…respond to…do…”
I’m proud to say I didn’t actually reach for the phone that I knew wasn’t there, but I think I did flinch. The next immediate thought was “Shit! You don’t have your phone. Ask him for his.” Seriously….
The third thought that hit was “Did you bring a book?? You could be reading now!” Each of these thoughts happened in near real-time.
The forth thought — and my favorite — was spot on…”Hey, about you just sit here…be still…be present…and pay attention to what’s going on around you…inside you.”
Novel idea…I noticed the ivy running up the lattice work next to the table and got a great idea for something I could do on my deck. If I’d had my phone, I’d have never noticed the ivy.
I started looking around at the people sitting on the patio and noticed that several — ok, most — of the people were overweight, especially the women. And that got me thinking about how we live our lives…and wondering if the lack of activity is specific to Indiana…is it generational…does it have to do with having a family…work/life balance…? Is it because we don’t place enough importance…prestige…on being physically fit?
From there I noticed the edge that existed in the air. People weren’t smiling…they didn’t seem relaxed. Was it the heat…the humidity…because it was early…maybe people had been up late Saturday night…perhaps they were spending time with people they didn’t want to be with…?
All these thoughts…observations…happened in the amount of time that Mr. Universe used the restroom. I think there were even a few more but you get the point. Without an iPhone in my hand…without a device to purposely distract me from my environment, I was able to notice things I would have totally missed. And this is the type of stuff I should be noticing…the things that are right in front of me. The things the Universe wants me to see…hear…ponder…react to.
Here’s to hoping I forget my phone at home more often.