A few weeks ago, as we we chatting away up at Noosa, my friend Nat Go said – “Look up and live – that would be a good idea for a blog.” Such fateful words…
Nat, Phil and I were sitting on the balcony at the time, playing Scrabble. While Phil and I were being cheated out of another scrabble victory, and while waiting for our turns, we were watching people walk along the beautiful Noosa Heads beach front as the sun slowly set. Surrounded by all of this natural beauty – lots of those people had their heads buried in their mobile phones.
Mobile phones are everywhere nowadays. As cyclists we often see pedestrians wandering along our shared paths in Brisbane, engrossed by their phones and paying no attention to the outside world, including the cyclists hurtling towards them. “Look up and live” is what we say to these pedestrian hazards as we try to avoid colliding with them or scaring the bejesus out of them.
Much to the annoyance of anybody trying to reach me. I’m a bit of a “zero notifications” guy. I try to use my mobile phone on my terms. My phone is often not in the same room as me, and almost all notifications are turned off. Pro-tip – if you want to speak to me and I don’t answer the phone leave me a message. It’s much easier to go to zero notifications now that I don’t work – there are no emails or calls to monitor. I’m not totally immune to the mobile seductress – I am prone to the occasional doom scroll or heading down a YouTube rabbit hole every now and then.
I’m trying to look up and live a lot more now. There’s so much beauty and craziness to see every day if you just look for it.
As for my friend Nat, she hasn’t quite learnt to “walk the talk” – but that’s another story involving failed wifi, a mobile phone and a flight of stairs…..
Image © Boston Globe via Getty Images
