When the Internet Is Down
‘No Internet Connection’ is displayed on my phone in mustard yellow. In the midst of a pandemic, when everyone’s access to everything is online, this is the gateway to a deeper lockdown. Lockdown Pure.
I’m writing this from a notes app – one of the few apps I have that doesn’t require me to be connected to Wifi or data to use.
‘Find the silver lining. Find the silver lining,’ a voice within me calls.
Instead of rushing into full blown panic mode, which is often triggered at slight inconveniences like this, I embrace a different perspective. Now, through no fault of my own, I have been disconnected from the central source that feeds a constant loop of enjoyment and anxiety. The Internet.
This blip of internet abstinence is already reminding me that we as a species have lived without the world wide web for virtually all of human history. And now almost everyone is plugged in. Now it is effectively essential for us to participate in the economy, or at the very least to satiate our curiosity and fulfill (almost) all human needs.
Without the internet, my imagination leaps to draw parallels to other experiences of detachment from the grinding routine of collective (un)consciousness. I see the buddha giving up all earthly pleasures and riches. I see Dave Chapelle walking away from the corporate carnival and going to Africa. I see a necessary rite of passage for the modern person, which we all must embrace at one moment or another.
I know what you’re thinking. I’m probably coming off like some self-aggrandizing new age monk. AND on top of that rich image, this is only going to come to your eyes through the internet. To those thoughts I must respond, robes and all.
We’re constantly consuming information. When we scroll through Youtube, we (un)knowingly are searching for a video that will change my life, or at least our state. Everything is brought to light through the search bar, and so we are always searching.
It’s only been 10 minutes since the internet went down, and here I am, searching for nirvana in the moments in between. I suppose we must be reminded of the importance of unplugging, especially now. Who are you when the Internet is down?
