I’m continuously astonished by how much less of a big deal this switch has been than I thought it would be
When I first began this “experiment,” I truly wasn’t sure if this was right for me. (A colleague recently told me that she’s pretty sure that after using a flip phone for a year, I can stop calling it an experiment.) And to be honest, I still haven’t decided. Part of what makes this so doable for me is that I don’t feel like I have to make a lifelong decision. Situations change, technological interfaces change, and what is true or right for me in one stage will not necessarily be so in another.
Just the other day someone was going on and on about how difficult her recent tech downgrade made her life. She provided a detailed analysis of why what she had before wasn’t so bad and how she’s even busier now on her phone than she was when she had easier tech access with her smart device … etc., etc., etc.
Finally, I broke in and told her that if she really felt that way, I thought she should just go back to her filtered smartphone. She was taken aback. Isn’t a flip phone better for everyone? Well, I’m certainly not willing to say that. (Please note: I am not a rabbinic authority. Consult your own daas Torah for a personal decision.)
Personally, I feel like I’ve found something that works. Having my primary, go-everywhere-with-me phone as a flip, which has access to only calling and rudimentary texting, is good. It keeps me tethered to the world and not a screen. I feel like I’m aligning to the ideal according to our rabbanim.
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