UNPLUGGED

I lost my phone on day one. It was a really heartbreaking moment, as I said before. I thought at that moment that in a way, my life was over. My phone held endless possibilities of communication, research, photos, and knowledge that I didn’t have right at my fingertips anymore. This was a scary, and unknown chapter in my life and I really didn’t know what to expect out of it.

I have been unplugged from my phone for almost 7 days now. That is an entire week. Yes, I have had my computer to tell my family and friends the occasional hello, and I still know what is happening in the world because of it. I am not entirely unplugged, most I would say about 90% of my time that I would have been on my phone; I am enjoying different things, simpler things and quieter things.

The respect I suddenly have for quietness. Not of noise or sound, but of quietness of people in a virtual world. I suddenly don’t hear the noise of what everyone is doing, thinking, or eating. The only sound that I hear are what the people directly in front of me are doing, thinking and eating. I feel air on my face, I hear sounds in the house, I hear French people in the streets, and while I may have been able to hear that before, I know hear only that. There is nothing else to cloud what I am feeling right now.

My yogi of a father sent me this quote several days ago. This quote has helped me to remember what I really want, and how I want to embrace things.

“Something amazing happens when we surrender and just love. We melt into another world, a realm of power already within us. The world changes when we change. The world softens when we soften. The world loves us when we choose to love the world.”

― Marianne Williamson

It was on the plane ride to Paris that I decided to surrender my heart to not having a phone. I decided to soften my mind to the idea that I would be okay, if not better without a phone. Almost instantly I felt and understood and loved those people more than I would have without that moment of giving in to happiness.

That is exactly what the people of Mazamet have practiced their entire lives. I can see it in their eyes, a pure and simple happiness. Time moves much more slowly here. Everyone doesn’t write down everything they need to do in a day. There is a lot of what we busy Americans would call ‘waiting around,’ but they see it as communication, love and connection. They mosey around not in a lazy way, but as a way to spend time with each other. Eating takes longer, going places takes longer, events takes longer, and saying goodbye takes longer. This slower process would make many of us high anxiety and task driven people completely insane. But when I look at these people, they are relaxed and happy and perfectly content in spending time with people and not spending time completing tasks on a list. As Americans, we take pride in filling our schedules to the brim so that every second of everyday is filled with events and things to accomplish. I know that I am. I would look at my schedule for the upcoming day and think to myself, ’17 events tomorrow, I freaking rock.’ I always said I was too busy for friends and hanging out, and boys because I was so busy with all of the things that I wanted to be and wanted to do. Now, I wish that I had focused on the thing that I have found the most important, which is human connection. All of these people have a beautiful connection with each other. You can feel a communal feeling running through the veins of Mazamet.

In way, losing my phone was a way to see this, to learn this. It was the most painful way, but the fastest way to learn and start to appreciate this. For that, I thank my silly self for leaving that phone on the plane. Because of it, I can begin to melt.

PC: #benallredphotography