We do not exist to serve our phones. They exist to serve us. Therefore the language we use should center around our own needs. The idea that we have a constant obligation to "come to our phones" is disempowering. Phones should play a role of supportive service to the cause of our own mental health and thriving. They should come to us, and only when we summon them. We should live with a mindset that we are free of them, and when we need our phones we can call upon them. But calling upon them does not even need to be our default behavior. By reclaiming our power in this relationship we also take on the responsibility to decide when we need our phones. This may be an adjustment, but taking on that responsibility helps us cultivate a greater awareness of what our minds and bodies truly need. And through that awareness, we become attuned to the ways in which we may feel most alive at the times when we forbid our phones from coming to us. Just say, "the phone can't come to me right now." Sometimes the best gift our phones can give us is the gift of presence, through their absence.

Thank you for the original photography on Unsplash: Kinga Cichewicz, Thom Weerd, Peter Conlan and Scott Webb.

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