Tools of the Trade

I left my phone on the kitchen table this morning, my just-charged phone, my un-missable with its brightly colored case phone. The phone that, between checking email and writing blog posts, is practically surgically attached to my hand for many hours a day. By the time I realized, there was no time to go back for it. And so, for the better part of my day, I was transported back to a time when we couldn't be reachable every second of every day. To a time when we had to trust what was going on without us, and had to wait to find out all the useful and useless things about which we now get regular smartphone updates.
 
Once I got past the moment of panic that my children wouldn't be able to reach me and that I wouldn't receive work or school related emails I'd have to act on right away, I have to admit, there was something very freeing about my hands being just my hands and my being unable to "check in." While I consider my phone more a tool than a distraction, for one day, I discovered that my own non-electronic toolbox was enough to get me through the day. Granted, there were no crises that really required my immediate attention. Still, today reminded me that if there were a crisis, one way or the other, it would work out, even without my being on speed-dial.
 
Don't get me wrong--I will be absolutely sure I take my phone tomorrow. Despite reading all sorts of posts recently about breaking from your devices, I'm not looking for such an extreme step. Today's test was great, but I still like feeling as though the world is in my hand, and that my kids, though out and about, are as close as a ringtone.
 
It's just nice sometimes to know that you have a lot more at your fingertips than a touchscreen.