There's a popular view of society that shows people glued to their phones to the exclusion of all else. It's a popular view because, well, it's largely true. Take a look next time you're somewhere busy. There'll be plenty folks with their eyes glued to a phone screen. Seeing someone on a bus or train who is sitting taking in the view is so unusual as to warrant comment.
I'm terrible for it.
You can see me sauntering down to the local shops with headphones on, head down, busy scrolling through social media, or reading a book, or playing a game.
Here's the thing though, it's not something new to me.
Walking while reading is something that i was known about for many years before the numerous distractions afforded by a smart phone became available.
When my now wife and I were dating she lived on Leith Walk in Edinburgh and I lived in Musselburgh. I'd walk her home frome wherever we'd gone out, then head for the bus home. As I went, I'd pull a book out of my pocket and start reading, crossing the roadway as I went.
Lizza tells of watching me from her window, it was a seconbd floor apartment, and fearing that we'd never get as far as a wedding because I'd be run over. 'You never looked up,' she's said. Head down, nose in book, you'd just step of the curb into the road.' Other friends and acquaintances from the time tell similar stories.
Yet, I never did walk in front of a car or bus. I didn't stumble down holes in the pavement, or collide with street furniture. I developed a level of peripheral awareness which allowed me to remain in whatever world the book transported me to, while remaining safe in the one here and now.
I'm not sure when the phone took over from the book, probably by the time I got my iPhone 6, it was the first one with a screen big enough to really read on, and twitter was becoming a thing I used more.
Walking while reading, a transferable skill, who knew?
Sometimes, though, I miss the older, simpler, days of having my nose in a book. Another thing that has come with the whole world of information being available in your hand is, for many folks - me included - a shorter attention span.
The continually refreshing feeds, the incessant notifications of messages, comments, emails, and the like, picks away at concentration until it is all but lost. I find myself in a small, tight, loop of waiting for something to happen, and there's always something happening, and unable to give my mind over to becoming lost in the world a book can take me to.
To alleviate this I've started having some dedicated reading time in the morning. I feed the cats, take my meds, and sitt read for 15-20 minutes. It's helping, though some mornings I realise I've wasted half-an-hour looking at my phone before a page is turned, uggh.
The next part of the plan is putting some music on my mp3 player, leaving the phone at home, and going for a walk round the park with just some music and a book.
I just maybe wont let Lizza seeing me do it. No need to maker her worry about having to arrange a funeral.
text by stuartcturnbull, picture by EliFrancis via Pixabay