As we were rushing around to get out the door for our 4th of July weekend trip to the lake, I misplaced my iPhone and was forced to leave without it…for 4 days! What at first seemed like a curse, ended up being a blessing!
After the initial panic wore off, I actually felt free and liberated…and had lots of fun with Michelle, the girls, and our friends on the trip (probably more fun than I would have had if my phone was with me).
In this video I talk about this experience and the challenge that many of us face in today’s world with our seeming dependence on our phones and technology in general.
Check out the video below and feel free to leave a comment below about it. And, if there are people in your life or your social networks whom you think would resonate with this message, feel free to share it with them.
Lived without my cell phone for 7 weeks. It’s hard at the beginning and you see that life goes on.
Hi Mike – thanks for the message and the reality check – great point! It really is fun without the phone!! Take care – Al
Hello Mike, thanks a lot for your newsletters. What I appreciate about your writings is the fact that they are so authentic, so real and down-to-earth. It’s great when one notices that odd things do happen not only to myself :-). I name it – odd – misplacing the iphone. But in fact one can also say that it is simply something that happens. I was surprised that you’re writing about this topic because it happened to me yesterday. It wasn’t that we were on our way to somewhere. I just had to send an – important – message to my son and the iphone was out of reach. I did the thing that is usually common in these situations – call my iphone number from our landline. And I heard absolutely nothing. After an hour or so – I remembered that I left it in the car, the day before. Went to the garage and there it was. But I was able to feel with you when you wrote your own experience. I’m like you – very happy – to be able to use all our marvellous technology and also a little bit proud of it. I say – proud – because I’m quite older than you (even though I don’t feel it). I’m 62 already and still – would feel a bit lost if there suddenly would be no internet or iphone and the like. But I absolutely agree with you – we should never place more importance on these devices than on people we love to spend time with. And I’m sure you’re managing this fine and so am I. Wish you a lot of nice days in this summertime. We’ve had quite a lot of warm and beautiful days here already in Germany. Was able to spend a good amount of time with swimming and cycling. kind regards, Hedi
Mike, after spending 2 wks. in lovely Ireland I was convinced I was trashing my phone. i spent so much time asking people to help me make calls back to the US. AND the picture taking didn’t work so well either. I am definitely paring down on technology, it makes me feel bad about myself!! Vivian Guthrie
Hi Mike,
I laughed as I listened to your blog post as I often “live without my phone” — it is either seldom on (or not on my person), which seems to bother others more than it does me. (I have a life outside of my phone!)
Tip top stfuf. I’ll expect more now.