Decompression Week: Trying to Eliminate “Hurry”

Good morning, lovely friends.

I don’t, as you can probably tell, have a long blog post planned for us this Monday.

Until Friday, as a matter of fact, I’m taking a hiatus from all kind of technological matter. I’m not texting, I’m not Snapping, I’m not (this one was the worst) browsing on YouTube for Doctor Who edits or Breath of the Wild speedruns, I’m staying clear of Twitter and Instagram (which I’ve kinda been doing anyway if you haven’t noticed), and keeping my screentime to a minimum.

That’s right. I’m only using my cell phone for study/writing/exercise music or making an oldschool “phone call.”

So yeah.

My phone is going to be incredibly boring this week.

This month, my mom introduced me to a book that just came out last year by one of my favorite modern theologians, John Mark Comer. It’s title?

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

In a nut shell, it has been fascinating to read through with her, and it has opened up my mind to quite a lot of facts concerning the digital era, distraction, and the ways in which Silicon Valley has been programming society’s brains starting with the invention of the iPhone in 2008.

Reading it makes me feel like I have been caught up in some kind of Doctor Who story or sci-fi dystopia where all the people are just puppets walking around with earpieces in their heads: telling them what to think, what to say, and how to live. Cell phones and cyberspace have…let’s just say done a lot to the future of mankind.

But it’s also done a lot to the future of Christianity.

As Comer remarks multiple times, sometimes we only tend to think of our only earthly enemy as hedonism. And while hedonism is certainly a danger, distraction is sometimes even more dangerous. We cannot see Christ clearly when we’re distracted, and eventually, we end up doing whatever the distraction tells us to do.

The digital age has made us move faster, have less time for the important stuff, and mindlessly plow into whatever our next big thing is. And when all we have to give God is a quick five minute “pocket devo” as we rush out to work, there’s something horribly wrong.

Would a man and his wife only spend five minutes talking to each other over the course of an entire day? Would their relationship survive?

I hope you’re not saying yes, because if you are…well, never mind if you are. That’s a different conversation.

What I’m saying is that technology gives me so much more to deal with than I currently need. I wouldn’t call myself addicted, but just from having my phone off all morning and afternoon and evening (all day yesterday), I have felt a sense of peace wash over me. It’s weird. I cannot explain it. But technology does mess with our heads. It makes us too busy, and what we’re too busy doing is being distracted.

I.

Will.

Not.

Let.

This.

Happen.

To.

Me.

I feel like I’m retaliating against some kind of alien tech that’s working at world domination.

To my Whovians out there, I have literally just finished watching the Season 10 episode “The Lie of the Land,” so I am very (oh so very) triggered about technology right now. Do not @ me.

*coughs*

Zombie monks are not going to turn me into a walking USB port or brainwash my memories, ‘kay?

*coughs again*

My point is, I think the extra stress, the extra tension in my neck that never goes away no matter how many dang times I go to the chiropractor, and the unnecessarily preoccupied noodles in my brain are all due to the little beastie of technology that lurks in the corner of my room.

Yes, I did just use the word lurk.

So, that said, I’m taking the week off. The week being until Friday.

I’ll answer telephone calls and respond to any texts my phone receives at the end of the day, but my WhatsApp and social media platforms…well…consider them dead.

*sighs*

It’s already doing me a world of good, and I really hope to just unwire myself, immerse my mind wholly into reality, and one-up the energy and renewal of my morning conversations with Jesus.

Sorry Zombie Monks, this girl isn’t going to get duped that easy.

That said, thank you for coming to my TedTalk about technology. I am currently preparing myself for a five-day-retreat with a free brain. I’ll be back soon to let you know how it made me feel.

Besides, I have to work on my new Doctor Who cosplay. *winks*

Intrigued, are we?

Oh, and one last thing: there’s a special video-discussion post coming next Monday, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that.

Until next week (and “peace out”),

Emily 😆