I Left My Phone at Home and I Found Out Something Powerful
The blessing and curse of online life for this neurodivergent person with chronic fatigue
After the second day in a row of being glued to my phone and laptop by the unfolding events around the US election, getting increasingly irritated and despondent, I finally decided to go out for a walk. I was getting a headache and falling into a pervasive sense of gloom, and I knew I needed a break from the screen world.
Without fail, I take my phone with me wherever I go, in the event that I need it for an emergency. What if I fell and had no way of letting anyone know I needed help? What if I was driving and got lost or had a flat tyre?
But today, for some reason, I said to myself, You’re going no further than a half-hour walk. Just leave it.
I knew I needed space from the world held within that screen. A world of screaming opinions, angry voices cancelling each other, intolerance, hatred, fear and despair. Since I’ve been signed off work on disability, my days require my input to create structure, and it’s easy to end up ruminating when things this big come along because there’s no distraction.
I knew the craziness would still exist, somewhere, but I was surprised that almost as soon as I…
