Claire Edens: An Addict?

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Hi, my name is Claire Edens, and I am addicted to my phone. I do not know when exactly my addiction came to its climax; all I know is that one day I woke up and could not even look at myself in the mirror.

My guess is that 90% of our school’s population is utterly addicted to their phones, too. The first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem. Check. The second is getting help.

Recently, I did a four-day phone cleanse. Four days does not seem like a lot, but let me tell you, it is when you have to give up your vice. During this cleanse, I did not fully cease my relationship with my phone. I simply deleted all social media from it. Here is a day-by-day log on how my coping went.

Day One

I barely even noticed that my social media had been stripped from me. Today was a busy day, and I did not even once think to glance at my phone. I really did not think this would go so well. This should really be interesting.

Day Two

Today there was more down time, and my phone normally comes into play during free time. Early in the day, I didn’t feel the need to even have my phone on me. Business swirled around me, and I was not in need of my phone for a crutch. Later in the day as things slowed down, I started to notice my social media’s absence. Constantly, I unlocked my phone only to find that there was nothing to do on it. I noticed that I had a lot of free time to do other activities rather than spending time sitting on my phone getting absolutely nothing done. Halfway there . . .

Day Three

I have come to the realization that maybe the more I am not allowed to be on my phone, the more I want to be on it. While hanging out with friends, all of them are on their phones sharing things with each other, posting pictures, and tweeting the world. Meanwhile, I am sitting with them twiddling my thumbs. Oh, to be free.

Day Four

Final day. I can feel my Instagram calling my name, and I can just see my next Snapchat story. I do have a lot more free time to do whatever I want to, so I am not wasting as much time. Productive things are being accomplished. You never fully realize how much you depend on something until it is departed from your reach.

As the day comes to a close, I am relieved and intrigued by my reaction to this cleanse. We have made it so that social media is at the center of our focus all the time–everything revolves around who is posting what. Society says it matters what others are doing, what they look like, and what they are wearing. We have created this narcissistic reality for ourselves that revolves around me, me, and me.

I encourage everyone to do a social media purge. You never know what you will find. It gave me perspective, and it motivated me to change my mind.