A few weeks ago, my router stopped working. I didn’t want to reset it because I was in the middle of an online project and was hoping that when the internet started working again, the work would be able to be saved! So, I went for a walk around my neighborhood. As I did, a paragraph from a book I’m reading Keep Going by Austin Kleon, came to me:

When we're glued to our screens, the world looks unreal. Terrible. Not worth saving or even spending time with. Everyone on earth seems like a troll or a maniac or worse.

But you get outside and you start walking and you come to your senses.

Yeah, there are a few maniacs and some ugliness, but there are also people smiling, birds chirping, clouds flying overhead...all that stuff. There's possibility.

On my walk, I thought about that line and I made a conscience effort to focus on what was around me. The sounds. The smells. I rounded the corner and saw the cow farm on the other side of the road. The air was pleasant on my skin. Bubbles floated across my path and I looked around and saw my neighbors with their bubble machine and their young children laughing and giggling.

For a while, the world slowed down. The world became real. It wasn’t behind a screen - it was here, now, and I could feel it.

I got back to my house and the internet was back up, so I settled behind the screen once more. But I was refreshed and relaxed (I was only gone for 15 minutes) and ready to get back to the “unreal world” of the screen. So take some time today, or tomorrow, and go outside. Don’t bring a podcast or music. Just be present in the world around you.