How the Fear of Going Blind Helped Me Give Up My Smartphone

Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI noticed the problem on the way to the airport. My eye felt itchy. Every time I looked at something bright, it was like I was looking through Vaseline. I saw the world through a soft focus lens. That’s great for a Christmas card, but it’s not ideal when you’re trying to avoid trucks on the highway.Fortunately I have two eyes. I closed one and drove with the other.We were on our way to visit my wife’s mother. She’s a nurse. I mentioned my eye.“It’s tired out,” she said. “That’s because of too much screen time. You’re not twenty anymore.” Then she ran and got me some eye drops. “Three times a day put in two drops, you’ll feel better.”I started following her recommendation. I woke up in the morning, put in the eye drops and noticed that my vision improved. I went downstairs. I got my coffee. I sat down on the sofa and picked up my smartphone for some comfort scrolling.Instantly it was as if somebody stabbed me in the eye.“Arghhh!” I cried.“What?” My wife said.“Looking at this phone makes my eye hurt again.”My wife gave me her best look of unamused authority. “Then stop looking at the phone, genius.”I put the phone down. Almost instantly my eye felt better. Of course it felt better! What have we been doing to ourselves? We spend all day every day staring at light sources. They might not be as bright as the sun, but we stare at them incessantly. We turn off our screens and shut our eyes and in the mornings our fingers twitch to hold our little comfort devices once again.What’s wrong with us?For the last two years, I’ve been hunkering down at home. The GOP has made the country unsafe. You can’t drive around your state anymore out of fear that you might get pulled over and shot by some domestic abuser cosplaying as a law enforcement agent.The first thing I noticed when I returned to a big city was how everyone has become captured by their devices. In the old days, people hid their cell phones in Lima, Peru. You didn’t want them to get stolen. Today, people are walking right into traffic. The same is true in Minneapolis and Chicago. When you take your seat on the airplane, it’s next to some zombie who is engrossed by the tiny screen.We used to stare at books. That was better for us because at least the page was wide enough that your eyes didn’t have to cross in order to read. Why is everything vertical display? If it was horizontal display, we wouldn’t all be going blind.But nobody reads horizontally because it’s uncomfortable to hold the phone sideways. The discomfort of a sore wrist is now, blindness is a concern for the future.Blindness!“But I have to work,” I protested to my wife.She pointed at my computer.I tried it. The image is bigger so you don’t have to strain. The screen is wider so you don’t have to go cross-eyed. There are fewer apps so you don’t get caught scrolling.Imagine giving up all your days watching sunsets and your grandchildren playing because you burned out your eyes on an endless zombie scroll.The screen is still bright on a computer, but I switched to dark mode. Instead of a beacon of bright white light, I looked upon text resembling a star field. I felt better.“This works.”“Great, now do it at home.”There’s nothing like physical pain to compel you to give up a bad habit. The days went by. I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m not saying it’s easy. But every day I cut a few more minutes off my total screen time.For the last three days, I haven’t held my smartphone at all. I realized I don’t need it. My eyes need the break. The best part is that when you give the phone up, you can give up your data plan. You can stop being dependent on notifications.“Ding! Ding!”Aren’t you tired of hearing that noise? Aren’t you tired of jumping up from the task you were doing or the book you were reading or the conversation you were having?Aren’t you tired of finally getting some time together with your family only to have all of them sit around plugged into an independent device? We used to watch movies, link up, and experience the same thing together.Now, everybody watches all alone, and they feel lonely. They’re also going blind.Get a portable alarm for your bed. You don’t want that smartphone in there anyway. You can’t turn them off. You can’t take the battery out. They’re always recording. Do you want naked pictures of yourself all over the internet?For navigation, use a map. For photos, use a camera. For payments, use a credit card. It’s not inconvenient.Do you know what is inconvenient? Going blind!It’s been a month since I first noticed something wrong with my vision. I’ve been diligently putting in the eye drops. I’ve cut down on my screen time. I have a few appointments scheduled with the optometrist and doctor. But I already feel better.Giving up my smartphone improved my vision, but it also improved my sense of wellbeing. Those devices aren’t helping us. Those devices are toxic. They control us. They make us stressed out. They make us go blind. They’re too expensive.Switch to a flip phone and regain your freedom. Preserve your eyes for the sunrise. You’ll thank me someday.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe