Life Awaits Beyond Your Phone

How our relentless swiping on digital devices acts as a feeling suppressor, diminishing our emotional depth and disconnecting us from our inner wisdom.

Recently, I’ve witnessed moments that seem all too familiar in today’s world. Picture this: a teenage girl alone on the beach, filming herself striking sexy poses in a little white bikini. As she repeatedly performs the same “spontaneous” routine, she makes sure that her behind shows up perfectly for her social media followers. A grown-up woman at a dinner party, her eyes glued to her smartphone, obsessed by a random girl on Instagram filming herself going to the gym. And don’t forget the future of our society, 4-year-olds, eyes wide open, enchanted by a never-ending stream of flashy videos and adverts.

It's scenes like these that make me wonder, where are we all headed? Why do we let it happen? How much more time do we want to waste?

What Are We Letting Happen?

I can't help but feel we're all drifting into a bubble of instant gratification that's bound to pop—and not in a good way. This isn't just about losing a few hours to our screens. It's about the very essence of our lives slipping through our fingers.

I don’t want us to live in this fake, numbed-down world. It hurts me to see so many of us, including myself at times, get trapped in this cycle of superficiality.

We have to learn to use our devices wisely, or it will slowly poison our inner states of being. We have to love ourselves enough to protect our well-being and set clear boundaries.

Emojis over emotions

Our phones and devices have morphed from tools of convenience into barriers to connect with ourselves. They have turned into the ultimate escape from facing difficult and uncomfortable emotions, often without us even realising it. I've caught myself too many times reaching for my device to open some random apps, not out of need, but as an escape. 

We've all been there, right? But every time we unconsciously swipe to distract ourselves, we're pushing those feelings down, deeper and deeper, making us increasingly disconnected from our core.

As a result, we start to feel heavier and numb, and are - paradoxically - seeking more hits of “happiness” which our devices are ready to deliver 24/7. Unfortunately because we numb ourselves, we need increasingly more intense distractions. And so we’re slowly swiping ourselves away.

Ditching the click-bait life

For me, the game changer was beginning to view my phone as a highly efficient personal assistant, rather than an instant discomfort killer. Despite what we've come to believe, we don't need all-day access to our devices. Updates on our friends' lives every hour or the endless stream of travel videos aren't necessities. What we truly need is a deeper connection to ourselves.

However, when faced with negative emotions, tension or fatigue, our go-to solution, unfortunately, involves seeking further stimulation. A costly coping mechanism.

There is a simple solution: to become aware of every time you activate that oh-so alluring rectangular device and ask yourself;

“Am I trying to avoid any discomfort, tiredness or emotion by distracting myself with my phone?”

Put differently: Am I trying to bypass inner tensions by diving into the wonderlands of AI, viral challenges, or the daily dramas of people that I rarely know?

Embracing the void

What we actually need is so simple that it almost sounds like a joke:

We have to fully experience and embrace the sensation, followed by letting it go.

Initially this will be uncomfortable and difficult. You’ll experience the void, a heavy silence that might be too much to handle. But it's 100 percent worth it. Soon, you start to embrace and even love the stillness as essential for existing, like breathing.

As time passes, you come to see that this is the best thing that can happen to you. Instead of just drifting around aimlessly, It creates space to discover the depths of your being. Living from the inside out, you find true inner freedom.

Only in silence wisdom grows

John Naisbitt really got it right when he said: “We're drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” This speaks deeply to all of us feeling bombarded by endless data but craving something much deeper. Quiet time isn't just a break; it's a deep dive into our inner selves. It's about turning off the world's noise to tap into our own well of wisdom, where real creativity and clarity wait to be discovered.

 In these moments of silence, we're not just stepping back; we're stepping in—to a space where true insight and interesting new ideas come to light. Let's make room for that inner voice. It's guiding us to understand not just more, but better, offering keys to doors we didn’t even know were there.