My Life Without a Screen

My name is Alex, and I loved my screen.

Not just one screen—all of them. When I woke up, I grabbed my **phone**. On the train, I looked at my **tablet**. When I got home, I turned on the big **TV**. My eyes were always busy. My mind was always full of noise.

I always felt like I was running out of time. I would scroll through websites and think, *I must not miss anything important.* I would watch a short video and then start another, and another. I was busy all the time, but I never felt happy or peaceful. I felt tired.

One day, my friend Maya asked me, “Alex, when was the last time you were really quiet?”

I didn’t know the answer.

Maya said, "You need a break. Try this: **One whole week without screens**."

I laughed. "No phone? No laptop? No TV? That is crazy! How will I know what is happening?"

Maya told me, "You will find out what is happening right here, in your real life."

I was scared, but I said yes. I gave my phone and laptop to Maya. I put the TV remote in a drawer. I felt like I had lost my arms and legs.

### The First Two Days

The first two days were terrible. I felt **lost and twitchy**. I kept trying to put my hand in my pocket to feel the phone. It wasn’t there.

I sat on the couch and stared at the wall. My head felt empty and loud at the same time. I realized that the screen was always telling my brain what to think about next. Without it, my brain was confused.

I was bored. I felt alone. I thought, *This is too hard. I will just watch one small show.* But I couldn't, because the remote was hidden. I walked around the house like a trapped animal.

That first evening, I tried to cook dinner. I burned the rice because I didn't have a quick YouTube video to show me how to do it. I almost cried. The screen had made everything too easy.

### Finding the World Again

On the third day, something changed. I was still bored, but I was also **calm**. I knew I had a whole week left, so I had to find things to do.

I cleaned my apartment very slowly. I noticed how many small things I had forgotten. I found an old photo album under a chair. I spent an hour looking at pictures of my family when I was a child. I smiled a lot.

Later, I sat on my porch. I didn't have music in my ears. I heard the **birds singing**. I heard a small dog barking far away. I felt the sun on my skin. I never noticed these things before because my screen was too loud.

The best part was the book. I found a real book—paper pages, a heavy cover—and I started to read. When I read a book, my mind only has one thing to do: read the words. It doesn't jump between five different apps. I read for hours and hours. I felt the most **peaceful** I had felt in years.

### The New Quiet Life

On the fifth day, my neighbor, an old man named Mr. Peterson, was outside watering his plants. I usually just nodded and walked fast past him.

This time, I had nothing to rush to. I stopped and asked him about his flowers. We talked for an entire hour. He told me funny stories about when he was young. I didn't look at a clock once. I felt like I was fully *there* with him.

The week finally ended. Maya came to give me back my phone. I looked at the phone in her hand. It looked like a **cold, heavy rock**. I felt no rush to grab it.

I put the phone in the drawer next to the TV remote.

My life is still busy, but it is different now. I check my phone for twenty minutes in the morning, and that is all. I read my paper book after dinner. I talk to my neighbors. I spend time just listening to the quiet.

The phone is still there, but it is not my boss anymore. I am the boss of the screen now. I learned that the real world, the world of sun and talking and books, is much bigger and brighter than any small screen could ever show me. I had to turn off the light to see the stars.