SMARTPHONES

With the trend being about living consciously and staying present in the moment, I find that traveling keeps you mindful. When in unfamiliar territory, you have to pay attention to the streets and landmarks in order to navigate unfamiliar terrain. Or maybe, if you're like me, you rely on your smartphone to get you around.

Recently I found out just how much I've come to rely on my phone when I drove my cousin to the airport in her home town in the early morning hours and I left my iPhone in her house.

No big deal…so I thought! I had committed to memory how to get back from the airport. But one wrong turn and I was lost! I was surprised how vulnerable I felt with my companion.

When I stopped to ask directions, I couldn't even say where I was going…."Uh, do you know the way to my cousin's house?" No addresses, no phone numbers, no money for gas…which was running low because of my excursion heading toward a neighboring state.

Watching the signs of spirit support, I began questioning the direction I was headed when every single  street I crossed had me stopping at a red light. Then I began noticing street names that I knew were the opposite way from her house. Once I turned around, the lights were green all the way back. 

I realized how I've come to depend too much on all the many features of my smartphone. My daughter asked, "How'd you do it before smartphones?" "Easy, we committed things to memory!" I know only one phone number besides mine, without my phone! Amazing! I did make it back, but now I have to reevaluate the fact that I'm trusting my whole life's worth of information in one device.  (Yes, The Cloud, back up etc…but none of it helps without a device to access it.)