Delusional illusions

Yesterday, on my way to the cigar lounge, I realized I had forgotten my iPhone at home. At first, I felt lost as something was missing. A void, an emptiness.

My mind began to race, “How would I communicate? How would I stay connected during the day? What am I missing?” I felt sick.

But once I arrived, I felt something different, as the echo of absence feeling faded away into a freedom.

Seeing familiar faces, shaking hands and sitting down in a leather chair, I watched others locked into their screens scrolling. Is that what it looks like from the outside?

I moved around the room and had real conversations and laughter. I didn’t miss my phone that was 40 miles away.

When I got home, I quickly checked my messages, glanced at TikTok, and that was it. Wow, the world didn’t end today because of the vacancy of me on social media.

Today, with the phone in my hand, I felt lazy and curiosity instantly turned to aggravation, anxiety and irritation, weighed down by the endless noise of politics and pointless chatter by, “Masters of Manufactured Outrage.”

Why do we do this to ourselves?

We are the fish that clings to the hook, even after it’s been pulled free.

The contrast is clear: without it, I was present. With it, I was distracted.

Maybe more of us should leave the phone at home, turn it off, or at least put it in another room. You might find, like I did, that you don’t really miss it and in it’s absence, the fog clears and clarity returns.

Sometimes the best signal is no signal at all.

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