Moments of Quietness

I have recently been on holiday to somewhere with poor phone signal, intermittent WiFi and no TV.

And all of a sudden I only needed my phone to take pictures of beautiful scenery.

I wasn't checking Facebook or the news and I didn't experience FOMO (Fear of missing out) or craved my favourite programmes on TV. Instead I spent time going for walks, reading and a lot of the time I allowed my mind to wander.

This is what I noticed:

my mind felt calmer and less busy

I was able to make decisions more easily

I felt more present

I slept better

I felt rested when I got up in the mornings

And it got me thinking. I try to be mindful of how much I use my phone but the truth is that our phones hold a lot of our lives on them. There are apps for everything, most of us do online banking and our days are punctuated by messages and notifications. I'm no different to most people in that I feel a bit anxious when I don't have my phone on me. It feels weird, alien even. And yet I remember a time when we didn't even have mobile phones!

A lot of people also have jobs that involve looking at a screen for most of the working day and then we go home to look at our TV screen in an effort to relax and wind down.

TV programmes, social media, the news- they all can be very distracting and anxiety inducing. Not to mention constantly being bombarded by adverts telling us we need the latest handbag, tech item, car, mobile phone, ect. And it's difficult not to get swept up in all of it.

I'm not saying we should switch off our phones, avoid social media and never listen to the news or an advert ever again but I do think there needs to be some kind of balance. Every now and again it might be beneficial to seek out solitude, quietness, to allow ourselves to be still, to rest, for our minds to wander.

Because only when we stop being busy and distracted, can we truly tune into ourselves, into our needs and what we might want from our lives, our relationships, our work.

It's in those moments of quietness when we allow ourselves to listen, that we hear our own voice.