Why You Need To Unplug

Have you ever turned your phone off for an hour? I'm not talking about your phone dying while you're at the mall with your friends either. I am talking about your phone being turned completely off. Yes that would mean putting instagram on pause, it would mean not being able to snapchat your sorority sisters, and it would mean not being able to tweet about how drunk you got last night. It would be a way to completely distance yourself from the everyday distractions that our world offers. Even though many people, including myself, regard these distractions as comforts.

Today I went hiking. Hiking was never my favorite thing, but ever since I started using photography as a vehicle to express my emotions I have become a hiking fool. It was 23 degrees and snowing, probably not perfect hiking conditions but I refused to sit inside all day. So I went hiking in the snow. I was by myself and for the first few minutes I was sending snapchats to show everybody how pretty the snow laced landscape was. I didn't realize it at the time but the best thing to happen to me all day would be my phone dying minutes into the hike. I would be lying if I didn't say I started to turn around, but I didn't. I was walking in the woods with a light snow fall and I realized I was exactly where I needed to be.

So here I am hiking in the snow with nothing but my camera and some personal time to reflect on life. And I gotta tell you, my phone dying was a sign that I didn't need to be fully connected to the outside world. The farther I got in the woods the clearer my thoughts became, the better I felt and more importantly the less vital my phone felt. I was experiencing something that many people will never experience simply because they refuse to disconnect. A walk in the woods is something that no snapchat filter can recreate and no witty instagram caption can capture its beauty. And I promise you that looking out over the mountains, I couldn't have taken a picture that would have done that view justice.

I fully believe in a world where everything is based on interaction with other people via social media that the best thing we can do is take a quick break from that hectic world. If you do that I think you will realize that the best moments in life are not the ones you've painted your social media with. The best moments in life will be when you are so engrossed in living life that the thought of social media doesn't even cross your mind.

I think you will find that the best part of unplugging from the world is that we are allowed to think without any distractions. Since our thoughts become less clouded we start to draw up some drastically different conclusions than we normally would. I think you will find that social media interaction lacks intimacy. I don't care if you send a text with eleven exclamation points or a hundred kissy faces, there is very little, if any emotion behind it.

Today I realized something while taking the path less traveled. I realized that the only thing I would have changed about today would have been to have someone by my side. Wether it be a fellow photographer who loves the outdoors, a lovely date or my crazy little sister; that would enhance the experience ten fold. With that said, I urge you to turn your phone off and lose track of time! You don't have to be the first person to like everyones instagram picture. Instead you can be out living your life to the fullest, and believe it or not your phone isn't always needed to do so.

In the words of Thomas Merton, "Love is our destiny. We do not find the meaning of life alone - We find it with another."

I implore you to grab someone and leave your daily distractions behind. I promise they will be waiting for you as soon as you come back, and you might find that you don't need them after all.

Another Thought by Tyle