Maneuvering through no access to technology for 24 hours.
Anyone reading this title would wonder why would you willingly go dark in this day and age. I asked myself this several times before attempting to. Why would I torture myself for a whole 24 hours? What would I gain from it besides terrible FOMO and lack of entertainment?
Of course, without the dramatics, that’s not the point. In reality, we all need a break from technology because truth is, it runs the world. I would never have thought about taking a break myself, but alas we have teachers who test the boundaries of life and so, here we are.
BEING A GEN Z’ER GOING DARK
I think being a Gen Z’er and trying to go dark contributed a lot to the slight failure of this experiment. In the entirety of our lives as Gen Z’er’s technology has been rolled out since the very beginning. Phones are considered a body part in our worlds, so much that Generation Z spends an average of 3 hours and 38 minutes online on smartphones. I know specifically in my case not having a phone has never been an option, seeing as I had a phone by the age of 8.
In comparison to millennials, Gen Z is spoon-fed. Millennials grew up having to be awakened by all technology that rolled out, while us Gen Z'ers mastered its use like we made it.
WHEN DID I GO DARK
I went dark, well, attempted to, on Friday, September 20th from when I woke up until the clock hit midnight. I honestly do not know why I chose one of the busiest days ever to go dark, but I did. My best friend's birthday happened to fall on this day. With trying to surprise her and get things ready for her party at night I found it very hard to get through the full duration of the day. From the beginning, I knew I wasn’t going to complete the full 24 hours because I was just going to do it from the time I woke up, til the time I went to sleep.
RECAP OF THE DAY
Starting from the morning, I woke up 20 minutes late. Love that for me. I rushed to the bathroom, wanted to play music and came to the realization I have no source of music without my good ‘ol cellular, so, as a sad result, I took a quiet shower, then proceeded to do my hair in silence.
Fast forward, to class it was combative as well because she wanted us to do our work on our laptops. It was allowed per se, but it was the opposite of truly going dark. Truth be told, I didn't even blink twice when she said to take our laptops out.
After class the day picked up and I started failing. If it wasn’t my mom calling to check in, it was someone calling me about the kickback for the night, or the cake, or that we needed to go somewhere. I was continuously on my phone ,and I was disappointed in my failure, but also not surprised.
By the end of the day, I gave up, no one had Spotify Premium with a good playlist for the kickback, so I used my phone. And me being me (extra as usual), when the clock struck midnight to blow out the candles on the cake, I had to capture the moment.
WHAT I DID AND DIDN’T ACCOMPLISH
Let’s start with the things I did accomplish (not that much if we’re being honest). I woke up somewhat on time by myself. Having an 8 a.m. class and waking up at 7:20 was not the most ideal in terms of rushing to get ready, but I made it work. Another thing I accomplished was not giving myself FOMO (fear of missing out) because I didn’t check my group chat of my friends from home, which actually sucked because Friday was the start of the Life is Beautiful music festival weekend, but that is beside the point.
Highlighting all of the things I epically failed at, I could not stop answering the phone. My first mistake you was putting on my apple watch in the morning. I truly do not know why I did that because it was just making the process more painful for me by feeling all of the notifications on my wrist coming from my phone. Another thing I failed at was not using the Apple TV when my friends came over. After I had started the show on TV, is when I realized I was violating everything considered going dark (a very chill time gone bad).
MOST DIFFICULT THINGS NOT TO USE
The most difficult thing for me not to use was my phone. My phone is the source of everything in my world. On that specific day the hardest thing for me was not answering texts and calls because I was in the process of helping my friend get everything together for her birthday, while also trying to surprise her. I know if I really wanted to be disconnected fully from the world, my best friend’s birthday was not the right day.
Another reason why my phone was difficult not to use was because things like my music and TV are connected to my phone. As soon as I got in the car and my phone connected to it, it died inside because I knew it was of no use. I am nothing without music. Essentially I am dramatic, therefore I am nothing without my phone.
USES OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN MY LIFE & MY MEDIA HABITS
Even though I didn’t have a use for certain things on the day I went dark, a lot of life is consumed with technology. My technology use replaces my sense of direction, my willingness to get up for church instead of watching the live stream, and even my willingness to actually get up and see the people I care about instead of just face timing them.
I came to the conclusion that unfortunately, my life is consumed by technology and I do not have the slightest idea how to stop it.
Going dark will have to happen gradually for me to ever do it for a whole day. As of now I am clearly incapable.
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