I lost my phone. Again.

On Christmas Eve, I removed all of the social media apps off my phone. I removed my work email, which is actually way crazier than taking the social apps away for a Type A like me. I am not giving up social media. I'm getting back chit chat.

You'll notice I'm still active on social media. But, it is from my computer, not my phone. As I tried this little experiment, as that is how I am looking at it, one thing became clear: I don't use my phone as a phone very much. I don't answer the phone. God forbid. That's so 2010 (my guess the last time I regularly answered). Occasionally, I'll look something up. I've been pretty obsessed with the weather in Buffalo this past week for obvious reasons. (Did you hear about the people trapped at the Angola rest stop overnight? Such great short story fodder. Stay tuned).

What I'm trying to do is not look at this as giving something up. I'm looking at it as getting something back. I'm a talker. I am also fascinated by pretty much everyone, and I'd love to sit down to a coffee with anyone who is reading this, just to hear about your life. I've been a collector of stray conversations forever as well. I'll jot down snippets that I overhear in a totally "writer" and not "creepy lady" way.

After teaching my digital citizenship unit, something in me just woke up. I've taught it before, so it wasn't some magical thing. As I was trying to explain it to my son, I said something like this: I used to be more interesting and fun. I used to have all kinds of random conversations that enriched my life. I'd been scrolling, and I couldn't tell you even what I read. So, here we are.

I'm fine. It's fine. I'm on my computer plenty. I am loving the chit chat. However, I have lost my phone a dozen times. Today, it was for over an hour. Not because I looked that long, but I just didn't care. We are snowed in, so I had nothing to worry about by being out of contact.

That's it really, That's all I wanted to say. I keep losing my phone, and I think that is a good sign.

Lest anyone think I'm getting self-righteous, I watched three or four episodes of Landman today and spent a ton of time on my computer too. I just want the chit chat back.

Buffalo doing Buffalo stuff