Disconnect and Recharge

As I return to my very comfortable life with all the easily available conveniences and connected devices, I find myself yearning for the simplicity of my time in Tanzania.  Climbing Kilimanjaro was not easy, but daily life was stripped down to essentials and I was given the opportunity to channel all of my energy and focus on whatever was right in front of me. Being without cell connection for 10 days and only using my phone as a camera, note taking and music delivering device added an important element to this life altering adventure. I hope this reflection will remind me to continue to seek opportunities to unplug, reconnect with my creativity and maybe offer inspiration for others to join me in disconnecting.

With all of my training and preparation for this epic adventure I had not given much thought to what the experience of being disconnected might actually feel like, especially for an extended period of time. If I had wrapped my head around it before departing I think I would have felt very uncomfortable and nervous about the reality of being detached from family, work and the “news” of the world. I knew cell service would be limited and unreliable throughout the adventure, but I had also heard rumors that the top of Kilimanjaro was recently equipped with service so that you could instantly share your accomplishment with friends and family back home. I assumed I would have sporadic opportunities to check in and thought for sure I would get antsy without the ability to check emails, respond to texts and update my calendar while I was away. How would my family reach me if they needed me? What would happen at work if I wasn’t there to problem solve? How could I send timely responses to offers and invitations?  Turns out everyone IS able to survive without me for a few days and it is possible for me to experience getting completely present!

Living for 10 days without technology opened space in my life for mind wandering, creative thinking and deep, uninterrupted conversations. Despite downloading 11 books before departure, I ended up not starting a single one! Instead, I spent time on the trail asking questions and listening intently to the answers. I observed the behaviors and language of people from different backgrounds and cultures. I stopped to inspect the intricacies of tiny flowers. I took deeper breaths. I got silly. I watched the sun rise and set. I moved my body to the beat of music that sets my soul on fire! I laughed. I sang at the top of my oxygen deprived lungs. I cried (alot) and I savored the heavy dose of vitamin L (love) added to every bite of the food that was prepared for us.

I felt so alive! Yes, I was physically exhausted at the end of each days hike, but the energy that pulsated through my body around the clock made it hard for me to sleep at night. I had a nearly permanent smile on face and I found myself able to stay calm in the face of extreme physical and mental challenges. I had no idea that being forced to experience life on airplane mode would be so enriching, fulfilling and exhilarating!

So you aren’t interested in climbing to the roof of Africa and experiencing life at 19, 341’? I get it! Good news, you don’t have to go so far or put yourself through such extremes to experience an excellent recharge. Gaining this kind of presence doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant. You don’t have to sleep in a tent for multiple days with below freezing temps without access to a shower. You dont have to choose an adventure that will test your limits. You just have to choose to completely unplug and disconnect from anything that isn’t right in front of you, even for just a few minutes a day or week. Surrender to the experience of living in the moment.  I do think this experience is felt more strongly if done outdoors and I think you will be more successful if you don’t have to choose to disconnect but rather the option just doesn’t exist. That being said, airplane mode is pretty effective if leaving your device at home or going off the grid isn’t an option.

In Michael Easter’s book, The Comfort Crisis, he talks about Biologist Edward O. Wilson’s famed theory, biophilia hypothesis. The idea that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. The thinking goes like this… We have evolved in nature, and therefore have programmed within our genes a need to be in and connect with nature and living things. If we don’t, we go a little haywire. As if we’re missing a necessary nutrient for our mind, body and overall sense of self.

My unexpected experience of being disconnected and recharged was so powerful that I want to encourage everyone to seek an experience or opportunity that allows one to be 100% present to where your feet are located. Your senses will come alive in ways you that may having you feeling childlike. You hear, see, touch and smell the world around you differently. Creativity and clarity have an opportunity to be exposed. I want to encourage all of us to find ways to mind wander despite the perceived obstacles. In Johann Hari’s book, Stolen Focus he says, “Letting your mind wander is not a crumbling of attention, but in fact a crucial form of attention in its own right. It is when you let your mind drift away from your immediate surroundings that is starts to think over the past, and starts to game out the future, and makes connections between different things you have learned.” Give your mind space to roam and your thinking may become sharper with better, more creative ideas and solutions. This gift of mind wandering is so valuable and extremely accessible to all of us if we choose it. Set your phone in a drawer, go for a walk outside and see what it feels like to let your mind breathe. Mind wandering is not a waste of time! It is a bonus when you get the chance to mind wander with another. Some of my most creative ideas and inspired thoughts have come from conversations on trails with friends old and new.

Living in our fast paced, bigger, better, more, society has us feeling comfortably numb and in many ways subconsciously stuck. In Johann Hari’s book, Stolen Focus, he says, “Many of us have built our identities around working to the point of exhaustion. We call this success. In a culture built on ever-increasing speed, slowing down is hard, and most of us will feel guilty about doing it. That is one reason why it’s important we all do it together- as a society, structural change.”

Join me and lets unstick ourselves. Choose to put yourself in an environment that may temporarily be uncomfortable because it’s unfamiliar and allow the pace and external noise to get slower and quieter. You will leave yourself open to the possibility of experiencing a transition into a peaceful state of being completely present and alive where the things that matter most become priorities and the vibration of your life on auto pilot becomes lowered to a nearly non detectable state. We can choose to unplug ourselves. We can choose to disconnect for the health and well being of each other. Lets support one another in disconnecting and recharging together.