The First of the New 3 R’s
Recognize!
Most mornings I take our English lab, Fortune, for a walk. I was steps out the back door, heading for the trail, treat pouch in hand when I sensed something was missing. I stopped, slipped my hand into the pocket of my hoodie and then I knew. My phone- I was missing my phone! I had left my phone in the house, and I needed it!
Why? You see, my phone is my step counter. I normally log about 3,000 steps each morning. I didn’t want to miss out on getting “credit” for my morning walk which I needed if I was to hit my 10,000 step goal for the day.
I delayed the beginning of the walk and returned to the back porch. My dog was seemingly confused but not totally surprised by my behavior. She’d seen it before. With phone in hand, I joined up with my dog and off we went.
Is this weird or what? I will say “weird.” It reveals one way my device has had a strange, maybe an even unhealthy influence on my life.
British author, Johann Hari, wrote about this phenomenon in his 2022 book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again.
Hari presents several factors that are leading to people’s loss of their ability to concentrate and focus. Prompted by observing his own and his godson’s dependence on phone technology, he put himself on a 3- month digital fast in order to tend to his own attention and mental health issues.
For Hari, this began with recognizing and noticing what was taking place. For many of us, I think this is also where change begins as we try to find some sort of reasonable balance in our use of digital technology.
Recognize is the first of the 3 R’s. Curious about the next R of the new 3 R’s? Read about in The 3 R’s of Unmachining: Guideposts for an Age of Technological Upheaval by Peco and Ruth Gaskovski.
Thanks for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
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