(Photo above by Samson Katt / Pexels)
Psychologists and tech experts agree: Looking at your phone each waking moment might not be the best thing for your mental health in 2021. According to a recent The New York Times article, activities such as doomscrolling or plunging down the YouTube rabbit hole are not only addictive, but also greatly increase anxiety.
Cal Newport, computer science professor and author of Digital Minimalism, asks that we treat screen time the same way we would a large piece of cake: It’s fine to consume, but in moderation.
While most experts agree that a digital detox plan is a great idea, the real question is what we can do with the time away from our phones to help us feel more connected and refreshed?
To do things that help us rediscover or acknowledge our infinite connections to others and our environment is the true solution to overcoming the sense of isolation and displacement that come with living in the modern world.
To answer this, it’s important to know that a digital detox is a new way to address an old problem—how to deal with the sense of disconnection and isolation that has come with the rise of technology and the modern world. This is a problem artists have painted about, singers have sung about and academics have studied for over 100 years.
Buddhism is a teaching for discovering our connections to all people, the world we inhabit and the entire universe. Buddhism teaches “dependent origination,” which describes the web of infinite connections we live in. Our lives are dependent on the activities of countless people (even if they live in distant places) and the natural world around us. Realizing these connections exist not only helps us feel whole but also gives us vitality and empathy.
To do things that help us rediscover or acknowledge our infinite connections to others and our environment is the true solution to overcoming the sense of isolation and displacement that come with living in the modern world.
Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda writes in an op-ed for the Japan Times:
Human beings are each a microcosm. Living here on Earth, we live in rhythms with a universe that extends infinitely above us. When resonate harmonies arise between this vast outer cosmos and the inner human cosmos, poetry is born. At one time, perhaps, all people were poets, in intimate dialogue with nature.
Photo by Benn McGuinness / Unsplash
We can nurture this poetic spirit in so many ways, first by setting aside time to be away from our screens.
When you allow yourself to be absorbed by a beautiful piece of music, it can remind you that you are not alone, that there is another soul in this world whose heart resonates with yours. Enjoy a walk in nature and feel how you are connected to all other living things. Look up at the stars and feel humbled by the vast universe that is beyond our comprehension. Such activities aren’t just about putting your phone down. They’re about reconnecting with the larger world and feeling whole.
The poetic spirit can be found in any human endeavor. It may be vibrant in the heart of a scientist engaged in research in the awed pursuit of truth. When the spirit of poetry lives within us, even objects do not appear as mere things; our eyes are trained on an inner spiritual reality.
So if you’d like to do a digital detox, it’s important not just to do nothing, but to do nothing well—that is, to do things with the purpose of reviving our poetic spirit and sense of connection with all things.