By: Malia Stephens
This past Friday afternoon I spent over an hour staring directly at my phone. I was seated in front of the TV where my sister was watching one of her favorite shows (Chopped). I was seated next to her on the couch mindlessly scrolling. I switched from apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter for over an hour. My mind was both overstimulated and completely numb. I was unable to focus on anything and was switching apps every five minutes or so because my brain could not decide what to focus on. After 30 minutes my head started to pound and after an hour my eyes began to sting. When I finally looked away and put my phone down I was extremely uncomfortable. I had a headache, my eyes were itchy, and I was nauseous. The itchy eyes faded within an hour or two, but my headache persisted until late in the evening. My experience with my ‘one hour of technology’ is in stark contrast with my hour of time spent with nature.
On a warm and wet Sunday afternoon I took a long walk with my dog through the forest filled park near my house (Four Mile Run Park). We first took the paved path through the park and then took a little adventure off of the trail. During the first 15 minutes of our walk I was a bit jittery. I was missing my phone and the music that I would have been listening to as I took this walk. But fairly soon after I began to appreciate the lack of technology and the sounds of the forest that I was able to hear. Once I began to truly appreciate and enjoy my walk I felt my head begin to clear and all of the stress from the previous week melt away. The mild headache that I persisted for the entire weekend finally broke and my head was no longer throbbing. My breathing became easier, steadier, and slower as I relaxed. Koda (my dog) and I eventually found a small clearing where you could sit on the grass and enjoy the sunshine and the sounds of the forest. Kota had a fantastic time sniffing around and playing with sticks and I realize that for the first time in a while I was experiencing pure joy from something that didn’t come for my screen. I can express how grateful I am for this assignment. I had forgotten how enjoyable it is to just exist outside. I am definitely doing this every weekend.
Both of my experiences changed my perspective and headspace. Both my hour with tech and my hour with nature allowed me to change how I view the world and the events that I was dealing with during each day. My hour with tech caused me to have a more negative and irritable reaction to the events and stresses during the rest of my Friday. My hour with nature allowed me to relax and handle the stresses that came with my Sunday afternoon. Overall my experience with nature was far more enjoyable and allowed me to be vastly more productive for the rest of my day.
Also here’s a picture of Koda during our walk!!