The no phone experience.

Last weekend in january I was working at Oslo yogafestival demoing yogawings. It was totally fab!
Less fab were that I forgot to bring my cellphone charger with me back home...

Tuesday morning I woke up from the alarm, on the phone, that I use, on the phone.
I had a text message conversation with my dear friend and brilliant fellow yogini Anja (http://www.yogabuddhi.se/), my mom called and that was it. The battery went stonecold, no turning back, super-dead.
I facebooked the fact that people was unable to reach me on my mobile phone and I went to Anjas for morningpractice.

A few hours in my current phonefree life I notice that I think about my phone a whole lot. And I'm costantly reaching in my pocket to pick it out, just to look at the screen... check what time it is, though I don't have to know... checking if I got any texts, though I'm not expecting any...

Tuesday afternoon I had a meeting with a colleuge down town. This meeting is desided a week ago or something like that. I can't call or text to check that we're still on. I add a book that I'm currently reading to all the stuff that I carry around – beliving that I need it - so that if she doesn't show up I still have something to occupy myself with.
But she's there when I arrive. And reflecting on it, it felt nice not to check up if the meeting were still on. To trust (even if I had a backup plan) and let go of the super control (even if it wasn't a choice) felt really good.

I can not constantly check what time it is and even if I'm talking and thinking about the fact that I'm having this no phone experience in a kind of disturbing amount – it's a tiny bit liberating =)


Wednesday I woke up from the alarm on my cellphone! Appently it works even if the phone is out of batteries.
As the day went along I were thinking about and missing my phone less and less.

What do we really need the phone for?
Emergensy calls.
Keeping in touch with friends and family.
Work.
But do we need to be able to answer 24/7?

I've been having my the same number since -93 (yes I'm old) and I remeber the first mobilephones in the 80ies. They had their own suitcase. They were huge and heavy! Before that there was ”just” the landlines and if you were walking the dog or on the bus you couldn't take a call at the same time. And still people survived.


Thursday I got an email saying that my charger will come home to Sweden by sportscar, airplain or mail. So sometime in next week I'll be back on my phone-addiction train. But right now I enjoy standing on the platform.


Don't call me. I'll call you =)