With No Screens Around, Your BBQ Party Can Turn Into A Segment From National Geographic
Hacks on how to get rid off bad screen habits for adults
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Picture this: you are standing on the small beach in your backyard BBQ-ing with your family and friends, across the bay on the jetty a bunch of teenagers are having a blast jumping into the water, giggling and just enjoying the summer. An ordinary summer day, right? Suddenly, two elks, known as one of the largest species within the deer family with males growing up to 1.5 meters and reaching 320-330 kilograms in weight, female height 1.3 m and 220-240 kg of weight, decide to parade themselves in front of the humans by jumping into the water and swimming across this small intimate bay.
The teenagers continue making somersaults in the water just a few meters away from these massive bodies, the grown ups with plates and BBQ tools in their hands stand with their mouths open. Suddenly, they remember that they have two little ones in the house glued to their iPads. A commotion happens, screams for the little ones to come out, dropping the BBQ tongs to reach for the good old fashion but digital camera. The teenagers suddenly realizing that they are in presence of something awesome, quickly jump back to safety onto the jetty and with their wet hands reach for the smart phones to get photos of the elks.
The two seven year olds come out of the house and watch for a minute or two as the elks gracefully swim like Ester Williams carrying their antennas elegantly above the water; then they smile and go back to their screens. They miss as the two animals nonchalantly walk out of the water to the small line of trees. The animals are hungry and they don’t care about the human viewers around them. As they chomp on the leaves, the teenagers continue to swim, the grown ups complain about their 7 year olds and how iPads are ruining their lives. A few seconds later, they reach for their own smart phones to upload the images on all of their social media. It’s only a coincidence or the fact that they were also hungry that they experienced this rare moment of pure wonder which they usually have to seek out on You Tube or National Geographic.
“I feel we live in a Zombie world where people don’t “see” or “hear” each other anymore. The screens are always with us and like a bag of candy we can’t control ourselves. We have to take a candy every second minute and we miss out on so many special moments and conversations when we loose ourselves and even worse our kids to the screens. We need to learn to turn them off now and then and be fully present,” writes Mia Ljungberg Nevado, the founder of the Look Up Movement.
After covering 8 Steps To Manage Your Kids’ Screens This Summer, a few adults confessed of their own screen addiction. Happy to help, Tarantula reached out to Mia again for a bit of advice, this time for the parents.
When Mia was vacationing in the Maldives, she had a similar experience. Herself a luxury editor for Family Travel Magazine, she would often take her laptop to the beach. When her kids came excited because there were two manta rays in the shallow waters in front of the resort, she followed her boys to see the fish, only to realize when she looked up that most kids and grown ups were sitting on the beach with their iPads in their hands.
“My biggest struggle with screens is how society has accepted them as the most natural part of our lives - how they have moved into our classrooms, bedrooms, dinning tables, busses, cafes, restaurants planes. There is no more room for spontaneous conversations.”
Mia decided to be proactive and wrote to the hotel’s management to keep the outside public spaces of the hotel a WiFi free zones. To her joy, a month later, she received a response that the resort will be wifi free. That was a changing moment in her life and she knew that she wanted to inspire more people to put their screens down and stay present as they experience any given moment.
As we are in the midst of summer trying to relax and create some special moments with our families, we asked Mia for some hacks on how to break our own screen addiction.
Look Up Movements 6 tips to help you disconnect from your phones and reconnect with your life
1. Practice Intentional Tech Delay
Don’t start your day looking at your phone. Allow your mind and body to start the day slowly and mindfully.
2. Disable Phone Notifications
Set your phone notifications to “off” for anything that isn’t urgent.
3. Unplug your phone and screens at Meal Time
Talk to your kids, friends, colleagues or family instead. Be present and have real face to face conversations.
4. Find Your Phone a Home
Make your own Look Up Box, one that will make you smile and remind you why you do this. (Mia’s sons gifted her with a beautiful vintage wine box for this special occasion. )
5.Leave a Book by Your Bed
Replace your phone with a real book. The best way to fall a sleep and to wind-down is with a good book.
6. Tech Sabbath Friday
Try and take a break from technology, from your phone and screens from Friday 6pm to Saturday 6pm. It will be a reset for your mind and will give you quality time with your friends and family.
Remember the youngsters whose parents were worried that they didn’t pay attention to the swimming elks? In a phone call with their grandparents later that night, they mentioned that they saw the elks. Arguing with them to get them off their screens to witness the grandeur of nature left an impression after all. Maybe it’s just that they already saw these animals swimming at a close proximity at the age of 7, while the parents had to wait 4-5 decades to enjoy the sight. Or maybe this is a sign of hope that there is still room for wonder in our lives if we put down our screens and pay attention.
If you have a hard time leaving your phones behind, join the Look Up Movement on Instagram @LookUpMovement2020 for further inspiration. “The movement will help you enter your own journey to break free from screens by curating authentic experiences without phones, #hashtags or constant postings by replacing them with nature adventures, art experiences and a bit of meditation and lectures.”
That moose story sounds rather familiar ;) another great article Maja. Thank you for writing these
wonderfully emotional and at the same time educative storry