This past weekend, I embarked on an incredible, and almost impossible journey. For my Screen Media Studies class, we were assigned to go on a media fast. Of course, I picked the day of a giant snowstorm, forcing everyone to be indoors. Usually, I would be watching movies, snapping and texting my friends, or checking my social media accounts every 5 minutes to keep myself entertained. This fast was a lot harder than a food fast by far. No phone, TV, Apple Watch, laptop, music, or looking at others' devices. It really opened my eyes to see just HOW MUCH I depend on these things. I felt like I was living in the olden days of snail mail and physically having to go to the library for information. I don’t know how those people did it back then! In this post, I will highlight the challenges of this media fast, and what I exactly did all day!
Morning
Usually the first thing I do in the morning is turn my phone alarm off, and then check all my new notifications. Not this morning! I woke up, and just laid there. I didn't really know what to do with myself at that point except get up and get ready to work out. That's when it hit me. I couldn't work out with music! This part of the assignment was probably the hardest because working out without music is harder than the workout itself. The ride over to Lifetime was also silent which is not normal for me. Usually I blast the radio in the car.Â
Entering Lifetime, I realized just how hard it is to escape the media. Between the giant TVs hanging across the whole front wall, music playing, and electronic advertisements, I was stuck. This led me to having to elliptical with my head down so I wouldn't accidentally look at a TV. Since I couldn't use my phone, I looked around and realized that EVERY SINGLE PERSON there was using some type of device whether that be an iPod, iPhone, iPad, TV etc. I'm not kidding when I say everyone. After my 45 minute cardio session was done (it felt like 2 hours without my music), I decided I couldn't go any longer like this. I headed back home to take a sad, music-less shower. It really put a damper on my daily shower performance.
Afternoon
The afternoon was a lot easier than my morning experience. My dad, mom, and I decided to venture out into the snowpocalypse for Chick-fil-a (I would do anything for Chick-fil-a). While we still had a silent car ride over, I was starting to get used to it. Usually while I'm in the car I am on my phone, but this time I actually looked out the window and realized all the changes my city had been making since I have been at college, and the white out conditions. Without having my phone at lunch, it seemed like my food tasted better and conversation improved because I had no distractions. But on the flip side, it got hard when I wanted to show my parents a picture of something I was talking about and couldn't. After experiencing this, I now stand firmly with the "no phones at the table" idea.
After lunch, we ran a couple errands, and I was still surviving without my phone. I can tell I have created a habit to pull out my phone when I'm standing around or bored. I tried to reach for my phone in my pocket several times, but of course it wasn't there which made me panic until I remembered it was at home. All afternoon, I was observing just how many people are on their phones. There was an immense amount using their phone at the grocery looking at their shopping list, talking on the phone, scanning items for Target's Cartwheel app, snapchatting, or my personal favorite that I saw, looking at goat pictures. Once I got home, I had to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. This was not the easiest thing for me because all I thought of were productive tasks, tragic. Who wants to be productive on the weekend? On a normal day, I would turn into a couch potato until dinner, but not today. I did my homework without any distractions from my phone, cleaned out my closet, organized my shelves, took a long nap, and even offered to shovel the driveway. That's weekend fun right there.
Evening
Once it hit dinner time, I realized that this day could be compared to a sandwich. The two slices of bread being the hard parts of the day, and the middle of the day being easier. We went to dinner at a place with TVs around that I tried my hardest not to look at, and tried to tune out the music. Something my family likes to do is go to a movie on the weekend, but this obviously was not an option, so after dinner we headed back home. I had the lost feeling again that I experienced when I woke up that morning. I really had no idea what to do with myself, so I tried to think back to what I did before I had a phone. Believe it or not, I ended up coloring a coloring book. It was stress relieving, and now I can see why times felt much simpler when I was younger, because I could be in my own little bubble. Going to bed that night, it once again felt weird not checking my phone before I called it a night, but I liked it. I took time to reflect on my day, say my nightly prayers, and actually felt relaxed.Â
This assignment showed me how much I use my phone for everything. It was easy to avoid media for the times when I know I am consciously using it, but it was hard to avoid those quick glances at the TV, background music, or habitual checks of my phone for no reason at all. I use my phone as a time filler, I mean what else are you supposed to do when you're going to the bathroom or standing in line? I liked being away from social media for the day and would definitely do it again, but in this day and age, I would say it is impossible to avoid all media and calling/texting. While this assignment showed me how beneficial it can be to cut it all out, it also showed me the harmful side as well. While on my fast, I was not able to get a study guide for my test that was sent out in an email, check my Google calendar to see what I had scheduled, call my mom for help when I needed it, look up information for an assignment, and much more. Overall, media is not a bad thing, it just depends on what it is used for. And just like a total food fast isn't the best and all foods are better in moderation, media used in moderation is the best as well. I challenge you all to go a whole 24 hours without any media! Not exactly the most fun, but a great self reflection experience!Â
Have a great week everyone! P.S. No Snap Streaks were harmed in the making of this assignment.Â
~Lauren