By: Lindsey Hatcher
My hour of media endeavor consisted mainly of popular social media apps. Being that I am part of generation Z, it is not an uncommon task for me to be constantly staring at my phone. Nowadays, young adults my age use technology for almost everything. On Thursday August 26th, I began what a normal day would be for me in my social media dive. At first glance of my phone, I saw no text messages, so I proceeded to check my snapchat notifications. Like most days, both of my sisters, some friends, and my cousins had sent me their daily snaps. Checking snapchat did not last very long once I quickly responded to everyone. Now it was time for my most time-consuming social media app to be opened; Tik Tok. The first thing that struck my attention was a live broadcast of individuals speaking at the pentagon about the recent suicide bombers at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Things like this had been coming up on my feed more often since the removal of American soldiers from that area. I spent most of my time listening to this live broadcast and watching the listeners comment back and forth on which presidential party is to blame for this happening. Later I found that even doing small tasks like making lunch or dinner I had to have my phone on. I either played a Netflix show, Spotify podcast, or latest YouTube video. This cycle normally goes on throughout a normal day for me in between tasks of school.
The next day was my one hour of taking in nature without the use of my phone or any social media. On most days this would be difficult because I normally rely on my GPS to get me to my destinations, but I decided to go to a very secluded lake that I actually visit often. Once I got to my destination the phone strike began. I decided to bring my dog Cookie with me as my source of entertainment besides the fact that I was engulfed in nature. Nature alone should have been my source of entertainment, but I figured Cookie should take on this experience as well. I had a rather short walk in the woods on a rocky path consisting of dead leave and pin needles. This short walk led me to my favorite secluded spot overlooking a small portion of the rather large lake. Once I sat down and began to take in the scenery for a short few minutes, I began to get lost in my own thoughts. This was partly because that was my way of staying busy since I could not use my phone. I began to notice small things I might not have seen in my past visits like a heron flying by, and the aroma that the lake gave off. It was nice to be able to have peace and quiet to really engage with my own thoughts. After a while it got dark, and I decided it was time to head to the car for my drive home. Once in my car I immediately checked my phone. To my surprise there were no notifications, and I probably could have gone way longer without using it.
This experience was very eye opening to me because it is a normal part of my daily life for me to constantly use my phone. The fact that I have to use it during very common things is kind of scary to think about. For once, it was really nice to shut my phone off and not worry about what is going on in the world. I really just enjoyed the present and the now. I hope that this experience will continue in my everyday life and that I choose to take a few hours to myself without any form of social media.
Taken by Lindsey Hatcher