One of the things we noticed in Greece was that people were not addicted to their phones.
When you met someone, they were genuinely interested in getting to know you.
They were friendly.
They were excited to meet you.
They were curious.
They engaged in real conversation with us even though English is not their native language.
Their head wasn’t buried in their phone while they were talking with you.
100% of their attention was focused on you.
Sure, everyone had a cell phone.
People used their phones to make calls or to send messages via WhatsApp.
They weren’t constantly checking Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
They gave their undivided attention when they were conversing with you.
I forgot what it’s like to have someone give you 100% of their attention.
Another thing we discovered was that people in Greece are not addicted to Fox News or CNN.
Only once did someone hint about our political unrest, but he tiptoed around the topic, not knowing which side we were on (isn’t it sad we’re 100% on one side or the other with no middle ground?)
Most people were unaware of the BREAKING NEWS triggers we experience all day long on television and our phone alerts.
They weren’t interested in what was happening outside of their bubble.
When we were on the super quiet islands of Paros and Naxos, we asked locals what they did for fun in their spare time.
From our perspective, there isn’t a lot to do on these islands.
No movie theaters or shopping centers.
No local restaurants or bars that we saw.
Not a lot of satellite dishes on homes.
It’s a very slow-paced life.
Locals work about six months of the year, then businesses shut down for the winter when the tourists leave.
The locals have a lot of free time and not a lot of activities to fill their free time.
A few locals said they like to swim or go fishing.
We asked what else they do for fun.
They looked at us with a puzzled look and shrugged their shoulders.
After spending a week on the islands, we started to slow down mentally and physically.
We noticed we stopped picking up our phones every time we had a few seconds of downtime.
We didn’t miss the constant triggering of BREAKING NEWS.
I think I could get used to the Greek island lifestyle.
What about you?
When was the last time you were able to unplug from social media and BREAKING NEWS?
Ted
