Three weeks. I was away for only three weeks, and it changed my life. I spent these three amazing weeks at summer camp, Camp Pinnacle. However, there was one thing about this camp that I had to come to terms with: I couldn’t have my phone. I would have no idea what was happening in the outside world, only the world inside camp. No checking up on friends, no seeing the news, no politics, none of the things I would normally have access to in my back pocket. People think “Three weeks isn’t too bad; anyone could do that.” But they don’t realize the impact that phones have on our lives. Phones are a huge resource for almost everyone, whether it be for practical or social reasons. Honestly, for the first few days, whenever I had alone time, I was constantly thinking about what my friends were doing, and how I would be so much happier if I had my phone.
However, as the days went on, I started to realize that my phone was starting to lose its hold on me; I was finally breaking free. For the first time in so many years, I wasn’t constantly bombarded with pictures of the prettiest models, news articles telling me how to lose weight and how to be prettier, what the new beauty craze is. I stopped caring about how I was smiling, or the way my body looked in a photo. I was genuinely happy. For the first time in so many years, I didn’t spend hours in front of a mirror trying to figure out the best way to appeal to everyone around me, to the society we live in. For the first time in so many years, I didn’t have to hide my emotions, my happiness, my sadness, my angriness. For the first time in so many years, I could truly be myself. Once I got home, I was different. I was more carefree, I was more fun, and begun to care less about what society had to say about me. About my hair, my clothes, my friends. My life didn’t revolve around pleasing the best people, having the most popular friends, and trying to be the person people thought of as “perfect” anymore. I was finally my true self.
Just those three short weeks had made such a huge impact on my life, and the way I see the world. Suddenly life wasn’t out to get me, but I was out to get life. Not having my phone gave me back so much of the confidence that I had lost over the years. But now that I’m back at home, and falling back into the routine that I was stuck in for so long, society’s pressure has started to hit hard. Constantly distracted by the thing I thought I had broken free from. My phone. The thing that I finally had learned to happily live without, is back. And with it comes the negative thoughts, and the dwindling confidence. No matter where you look, whether its social media or just looking something up online, there’s always going to be something telling you to be better. It could just be a side bar ad, or a celebrity trying to sell you ways to be more attractive. It’s clear to me that as a society, specifically the most modern generations, we let the constant fad diets, the filters, and the false realties that we see on our phones determine our self-worth. And as a member this modern generation, I feel that all of us have to find our “Camp Pinnacle”, the thing that helps us break free of the grasp that this artificial reality has on us. It might even take only three weeks.
