My slackness on the blogging front has been testament to nothing more than being busy both on the work and personal front - indicative of both the traction that Mobile (and more particularly Movement) appears to be gaining with brands, and the perennial swathe of weekend commitments that come from being of a certain age and with a family come the onset of Summer.
There are two occasions that come to mind as I think about my absence from the blogosphere (having typed it, I realise that I hate that word and as such will never use it again). Both of these involved me being without the kind of mobile connectivity to which many of us have become used and, dare I say, have taken for granted. More recently I was on holiday with the Bod-brood in Spain but is is the first of these occasions that felt more significant.
I work in Mobile. Indeed I am one of those people who are rarely further than 5 feet away from their phone - I talk, message, browse, chat and generally while away hours each day using my phone. So I can tell you that I wasn't expecting to be without any kind of connectivity, mobile or WiFi, at a wedding in Shropshire... And I can also tell you that I had (slight) palpitations when I pulled up in the family minibus and did my customary check of the phone for messages/notifications:
What do you mean no signal? This is England. Just. Barely. But it is definitely still England. How dare there be no signal!
Was I suffering from a case of nomophobia? Well, if I was, it soon passed...
As it turned out, being without the use of my mobile for the best part of two days did not result in anything other than a mild sense of liberation. I did not lose track of what was going on in the world because I was unable to check the BBC mobile website; I did not suffer from a sense of alienation because I could not re-tweet jokes mid-ceremony; there were no repercussions from me not being able to text my mates that weren't at the wedding; and I did not lose any sleep about the inability to post pictures of me wearing a chefs hat and apron with a cock drawn on it to Facebook during the reception.
I survived. And moreover, I did so handsomely. So I have let that be a lesson to myself and I am trying to be a little less reliant on my mobile; to be comfortable with leaving it on the table whilst I play with my kids in the garden; and to not think to check my emails as soon as I wake up in the morning.
And I certainly feel better for it. Go on, try it. I dare you...
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