It’s often that life philosophies can be overrated. There’s never been a sense for me that life advice in and of itself is an entirely wholesome phenomenon. Yet the jury’s out on dismissing self-help altogether, and it’s thanks to efforts like Howard Lewis’ Leave Your Phone at the Door: The Joy of OFFLINE. Lewis writes with this brash earnestness, and unapologetic emotional candor that makes the more verbose aspects of the book feel grounded, reasonable, and wholly sensible. Lewis isn’t coming to the subject matter at hand from reading Hallmark cards, or a plethora of self-help books preceding his.
LINKED-IN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-lewis-offline/
There’s a personal component to every insight, every thought, making Lewis not only comprehensive in what he says, but authentic. I think that’s what so often is missing in this kind of introspective conversation. Lewis has come to the insights he has because of his own personal journey, and he does a sterling job of being able to separate his own, subjective experiences with certain aspects of that sojourn proving universal. It forms the grail upon which his philosophical outlook is placed.
“This book is a loose medley of stories, anecdotes, experiences and observations which gestated upstairs for many years,” Lewis says transparently. “Should it appear slightly uneven and haphazard on occasion, it will be entirely in character. The OFFLINE concept wriggled free from its chrysalis without any clue about its flight path. All I knew was that it was airborne and from that vantage point I witnessed the vagaries of society beneath me. Most graphic of all were the clusters congregating with those who looked or sounded similar to themselves and remained fearful and suspicious about even tiptoeing beyond their comfort zone. Conversely, OFFLINE threw caution to the winds and ignored all common convention, since at its core it is a celebration of the much underrated virtues of randomness and serendipity.”
Hence, the OFFLINE ethos. Something again, like I said, is borne from a deeply personal place but with rationalist reservations and filtering. At the end of the day, like any truly solid think, the OFFLINE mindset really is about reconnecting us to our true nature. To that oft-sought after, yet rarely wholly achieved experience of being truly, irrevocably human.
“Community in its truest form is an organic, living thing but the rise of the smartphone seems to have atrophied the ability of humans to communicate in a regular way,” Lewis writes. “The experts say it is caused by the dopamine effect whereby nominally sensible people gorge themselves on the delusion that almost every online exchange will be satisfying, soothing or malleable in some measure and, therefore, a justifiable use of their time.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Leave-Your-Phone-Door-OFFLINE/dp/1635769396
A potent cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters influences our cognitive powers so a quick hit of dopamine brings a quick reward. The unaffected modesty of the dumb phone that so many parents advocate for their kids today is a progressive move, if only to help their progeny to reclaim some of their childhood. The ability to send a text message or make a phone call is undeniably a good thing in both directions although the inference that a smartphone is an essential piece of kit for a young person is sadly indicative of lazy teaching, lazy parenting and lazy governance.”
Garth Thomas