iExamen1

Nicholas Zwobot

Dr. Ellis

EN*101

2 October 2017

iExamen1

To be brutally honest, when I first thought about an hour without any technology I immediately thought there is no way, my phone is important, I have people to talk to, Instagram pictures to like and Netflix to watch. Shortly after thinking that, I realized how sad that was and that I can refrain from opening and closing Instagram, texting one person and watching How I Met Your Mother for the 100^th consecutive time. I turned my phone off, took my laptop and put both of them away in a drawer to kill any temptation then I left my room.

            About fifteen minutes into my hour without and electronics, I found myself sitting outside of my dorm at a bench staring at the ground. I had no idea what to do. I decided that the only thing to do was something that I do not believe I have ever done. I went for a run with no music. This was interesting, because as I was running, I was not focusing on what song I was listening to or how far I had run. I was interested in my surroundings, everything seemed livelier. I didn’t care that I didn’t have my phone or music, because instead I was engulfed by what is around us. When we are clouded by technology we don’t take the time to capture what true beauty God has given us. I felt almost as if I was at peace, because I had no set time or pace as well as a set destination. I had no idea how long I had been running, and it was one of the greatest experiences I had ever felt.

            When I returned from my run, I had noticed that my hour was coming to a close, I took the remaining time to just relax. I was able to focus on my breathing and slowing my heart rate down. This let me come to a relaxed state where I wasn’t worried about what I needed to study or who was calling me. My hour came to a close, and I did not find myself rushing to turn my phone back on or turn on the television. I took my time and when I did turn my phone back on, it was almost a shock back to reality, because I had to do work, I had study, and so many other stresses all came flooding back. I learned a substantial amount from this experiment. The two most important were to do this type of activity much more often because it is a way to connect more with oneself as well as nature, and not to cut oneself off from technology without first telling your mom.