Ken has always given me a hard time on long car rides about having my nose stuck in a book instead of looking around. While I can’t argue his point that there’s so much to see, those long stretches of highway just scream for distraction. However, I’ve always managed to know when to put the book down and take in the beauty around me. Sadly, this knowledge seems to be lost on most people today who can’t lift their eyes from their phones for more than thirty seconds. There is so much that they are missing. Here are just a few of the reasons why everyone needs to put their phones down more often and open their eyes to the world around them.
1. There is so much to see in this world! Don’t sit with your eyes glued to the screen. Reading about places on the Internet will never, ever be the same as seeing them with your own eyes. You will never experience the world on a screen the way you will with all of five of your senses. Take a walk, take a drive, fly to another land. And don’t look at your phone.
2. There’s nothing like real human interaction. Instead of texting friends, go out with them! Turn the phones off, and enjoy your time together. When you have a problem, need a shoulder to lean on, someone to wipe your tears, your phone won’t meet your needs. Only your friends, live and in the flesh, can give you a hug, a pat on the back, a genuine smile and loving touch.
3. History can come to life. These days, you can watch a movie on your phone, a YouTube video showing clips of an important event, a news broadcast, and more. But there’s nothing like touching an artifact, There’s nothing like walking on the hallowed ground of a Civil War battlefield or Ground Zero. Instead of an online virtual tour of the White House, call your congressman, and schedule a visit. It’s easy and it’s free. Rather than watching a documentary about the Civil War, visit Gettysburg, or Antietam, or Fort Sumter. Someone once asked me how we were able to instill such a love of learning and of history in our children. It was easy, I told them, we didn’t teach them history, we showed them history. We brought it to life before their very lives.
4. Games are more fun in real life. Our country faces a juvenile obesity problem that is unprecedented, and it can’t be solved by exercising one’s thumbs. Virtual reality games don’t constitute exercise, and no matter how much you walk around looking for Pokemon, you aren’t truly pushing your body, gaining strength and muscle, or sharpening your athletic skills, and nether are your children.
5. Social skills are important! Whether playing a team sport, or a game of Uno with family, we need to stop looking at our phones for entertainment and start looking around us. Last week, my mother, brother, and I took all of the cousins (8 kids, ages 9 to 20) to Six Flags and were met with disappointment. Just before opening, a bomb threat was called in, and the park wasn’t able to open. We went for ice cream, a stroll on a local boardwalk, and then back to Grandma’s house for an afternoon of board games. And we had a ball. It wasn’t the thrill of riding a roller coaster, but there were laughs, cheers, and a sense of camaraderie that could not have been had if everyone had simply gone back to the house and played on their phones. It was a no phone zone, and it was wonderful.
6. Because moments are fleeting. Life passes by in the blink of an eye. Ferris knew what he was talking about when he said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” A sunrise may last for as long as thirty minutes, but each minute, even each half minute, is completely different. Colors change, clouds shift, shadows grow and shrink. Each time you blink, the scene transforms. When I photograph a sunrise, I end up with about a hundred shots, each one totally and completely different from the rest. It’s an amazing palette of colors on an ever-changing canvas. To look away for even an instant is to miss the next great work of art. Perhaps God does that on purpose. It’s a reminder that each moment, each tiny piece of time is to be marveled at, revered, appreciated. And take it from someone who has seen a lot of sunrises, there’s nothing like putting down the phone, or even the camera, and gazing at the real thing.
Amy Schisler is an award winning author of both children’s books and novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her book, Picture Me, is the recipient of an Illumination Award, placing it among the top three eBooks of 2015. Her latest book, Whispering Vines, is now available for purchase.
You may follow Amy on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor on Twitter @AmySchislerAuth, on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/amyschisler and on her web site http://amyschislerauthor.com.
Amy’s books:
Crabbing With Granddad (2013)
A Place to Call Home (2014)
Picture Me (2015)
Whispering Vines (2016)
Receive Amy’s Newsletter for News about Books and EventsSix Reasons to Put Down Your Phone!
After I read this I put my phone down to play with my kids. All of them adults.
I love it! Have fun!
Enjoyed and then put the phone away.
Good for you! Enjoy this day and soak it all up the right way.
Such a wonderful lesson for all of us! Growing up before the “smartphone” age, children had imaginations and imaginary friends (remember Harvey the friend of Jimmy Stewart) , they played games outside, and heaven forbid they got dirty playing in the soil. We did not have as many issues as we have today with food allergies, feeling sick all the time, we were healthier for the most part. People were happy, creative, and as they grew older they were able to use their imaginations to create things unheard of in years past because they had an imagination that was active and they could think for themselves out of the box rather than be a lemming and just following and complaining about everyone else.
Today kids grow up with a phone in their hands instead of a paper and pen, they don’t know how to write or read cursive because all they do is text each other. Forget spelling all they use are acronyms like “UR” for “your” or “IDK” for I don’t know” And then more importantly as you said, God has given us this beautiful world to live in, let’s look at the gift he has given us rather than get depressed by some person blowing up a text message or Facebook with anger, greed, or violence.
God bless you Amy for always keeping us on our toes!
Thanks, Dan! Things sure were simpler back then, weren’t they? And yes, I loved that old rabbit!