Freedom of airplane mode

There is a moment, just before the requisite safety speech when you're flying off to somewhere, when we flip our phones to airplane mode.  All of a sudden, the outside world has to survive without us for the length of the flight.  Miraculously, the world has carried on through one, two, three and even 13 hour trips to here, there and everywhere.  It's amazing.

Why don't we use airplane mode more often?  I can't help but think it would be healthy to completely shut off for an hour a day.  Do you think you could do it?  Seriously, do you think you could?

Ever so incrementally, the devices we use and our connectivity to the outside world via social media, texting, phone calls, etc. has become fundamental to how we live, work, breathe and move through the world.  We have been conditioned to think that this seamless connectivity is necessary.  I don't believe that it is.

I found myself flipping to airplane mode a couple of times yesterday.  Certainly, when I lay down for my post-lunch nap, I make the flip.  I don't sleep long, maybe five or ten minutes, but I don't like to hear the vibration of the phone in the middle of it.  I also used it just because I needed a mental pause.  It felt great.

Could you do an hour a day of being completely focused on your present, uninterrupted by likes, tweets, texts and other notifications?  Give it a try and see how you feel.  It might provide the rejuvenation and freedom that you've been longing for.