Allowing for Relaxing Cell-free time
I was comfortably enjoying a massage with the lights dimmed and soothing music in the background when suddenly my cell phone started to ring. It was one of those moments that caught me off guard and left me unsure as to how to react.
What was it again that I needed to do?
I found myself apologizing non-stop and seemed so paralyzed that I couldn’t reach out for my phone to turn it off. What a relief it was when it finally stopped ringing after what felt like forever. The benefits of the massage were instantly lost at that moment. My ringing phone was an intrusion in a peaceful and healing space that my therapist had created, though she was a sport about it all. As much as I tried to relax it wasn’t happening for me, which was a shame because I had been feeling myself relaxing and drifting off to a soothing place.
I usually leave my phone at home or in the car when I go for a massage. How ironic it was that it rang on the sole occasion I had brought it in with me in the event I needed to get hold of my husband who had dropped me off.
I shared my faux pas with my family afterwards, and unfortunately for me, they thought it was hilarious that this had happened to me, as I am not known for being governed by my phone. This led to a long discussion about cell phones and how intrusive they can be in the day-to-day activities of our lives.
My husband reminded me of a situation when we were at a restaurant with our friends and their family members. We were having a lovely evening and enjoying one another’s company and the meal before us. We were engaged and sharing stories until the phones started coming out of their hiding places and were passed around with pictures to emphasize the stories that were being shared. Everyone had been included in conversations before the phones appeared and after their appearance, there were clusters of groups formed and the inclusion of everyone in each conversation was lost. How quickly that changed the tone of the evening.
After the meal my husband and I talked about the intrusion we had experienced. We both agreed that cell phones were not necessarily a bad invention, however, just like anything else, there is a proper time and place for them. We recalled the times when only a few members of society carried cellphones around, such as doctors who had these devices so that they could be reached in case of an emergency or when they were on call.
Today, parents with small children feel a sense of peace when they know that they are within reach of their babysitters if necessary. However, when the phone rings it is proper to excuse oneself and answer the phone out of earshot of one’s company.
Someone said it beautifully that “everything else that is not associated with the meal should not be found on the table, including cell phones”.
On my next massage visit, my massage therapist met me at the reception area and asked if I had my phone turned off. Ouch! I had been fooled in thinking that she had been a sport about it all.
I took this as an opportunity to ask if any of her other clients had had their phones ring during a massage session. I was surprised by her response. She told me of times when some clients did not only answer their cell phones but went on to have full conversations as she was giving them a massage (without giving out their names of course). I was baffled. Have we as a people become so connected to our phones that we cannot even allow ourselves to enjoy a relaxing moment without their interference?
