” . . . I know very well you didn’t come to me only to want to become a writer, and after all what do I really know about it except that you’ve got to stick to it with the energy of a benny addict.”

— Jack Kerouac, On the Road

I’ve done this before, this writing thing they call blogging. And then I let it go.

It was on a Sunday when I really wanted to play on my phone and take a nap instead of write. I’ll pick it up later, I said.

But that still small voice said, “No, you won’t.”

And I ignored it.

The next Sunday came and went, and I had no post, nothing to say. Maybe the next week. Then a month went by, and I knew I wouldn’t write another word on that particular blog.

The bottom line was that I had decided to do other things:

• Cleaning
• Bathing the dog
• Napping
• Combing through Facebook’s hairy beast of a news feed
• Scrolling through my News app’s suggested articles
• Checking out the deals on Groupon (a crappy substitute for real coupons, I must say)
• Playing DominoDrop, Crosswords, or Words with Friends. Aren’t games supposed to be good for the brain?
• Dreaming of a getaway whilst meandering around Airbnb

I would always, ALWAYS, end up on my phone. What started as a productive afternoon ended in a mind-sucking, screen-staring blue haze.

Hey, I could write my blog on my phone, I thought, but it was far too easy to get interrupted by a message or a notification or a wild hair of a thought. Off I would go down the old beaten path of “fun, not fun” that turned into a bag of excuses and lies to myself. It is a battle that I fight with myself nearly every day:

• “I’ll do it later.”
• “Your writing sucks.”
• “The name of your blog is stupid.”
• “No one cares what you have to say.”
• “Who are you to think you can do this?”
• “You’re not good enough.”

So I stopped altogether.

Absence from what you love does not make the heart grow fonder; it makes your desires more distant and you more lazy, more likely to stay in a muddy pothole of complacency where you sit in your hollowed-out spot on your couch and eat Cheetos and scroll and scroll and scroll . . .

Keeping my blog was a good thing for me. It kept me structured and accountable and focused in so many more areas of my life than just in my writing habits, but in the quest to have more time for myself, to rest and to live the easy life, I let the writing go.

What came next was a surprise. It was easier to put off doing the chores, then I stopped reading good books. I grew dissatisfied. I focused on the bad instead of the good. In the end, there was never enough time. There was never enough rest.

“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”

Proverbs 13:4 NIV

It seems we all function better when we keep our bodies moving and our minds busy with a creative pursuit outside of our primary occupation. If it is your life’s passion to cook and create new recipes, then get in the kitchen. If you’ve always wanted to learn how to ________ (you pick!) use your phone for something good and find a how-to video. Paint a picture, throw some pottery, cross stitch a sampler with a favorite quote and then hang it on your wall. Journal until you’ve got a good callus on your middle finger. Get dirty with an outside chore.

Who knows? You might even start a blog . . .

So put the phone down. And please realize that it is much more than just a phone. It has the potential to take over your life, and one of its lies that it makes us more connected to each other.

Disclaimer here: due to our current situation, I have not seen my parents face-to-face in over two weeks. My youngest daughter’s birthday this past Sunday was celebrated by singing “Happy Birthday” with Nana and Pawpaw through FaceTime. I’m thankful for the technology that allowed us to connect for that moment.

But it’s kind of like eating straight out of the potato chip bag: it can be harder to stop when the supply is unlimited.

When things get back to normal, look around. The next time you go to a Cracker Barrel, whenever that might be, count up the folks on their phones: the young, the old, and all the in-betweens like me who remember what life was like BEFORE. We are meant to talk to each other as we butter our biscuits, not look at that mini-screen that’s ready and waiting for a blob of strawberry jam to plop on its sleek black face.

We are created to move and be active, not sit around and be controlled by an expensive little piece of plastic, metal, and glass. Make a bucket list and start working on it. I promise that you won’t put down getting to the next level in Candy Crush.

On my list, somewhere down the line, there will come a time when I will do what I’m fantasizing about right now. . .

I’m driving down Helicon Road approaching Swayback Bridge. I roll down my passenger window, and as I hit the bridge, I throw my phone out of the window frisbee-style. I watch it rotate through the air and then disappear from view. I never hear it hit the water. There is only the sound of the wind.

When I get home, I’ll write about what I did.