Damn, Smartphones

How in the hell did I miss Unstoppable

It came out in 2010. 

Unstoppable has Chris Pine and Denzel Washington. 

Plus, Tony Scott directed it. May he Rest In Peace. 

I've seen clips of it. I knew Tony Scott directed it, but I never raced to see it once I found out. Why? 

Maybe it was because the plot revolved around trains. And I guess I'm not too fond of trains, especially when the train is rolling through town at four in the morning, blaring its horn. I don't know, but I'm glad I watched it. 

Still, I'm bothered Unstoppable was out for twelve years, and I hadn't watched it. 

I used to be a big movie buff, watching almost everything. Then I stopped. 

I blame smartphones. Well, smartphones and a lack of willpower. 

Once I got the iPhone 3GS in my hand with access to social media, I started missing things. 

Watching movies, for one. 

Reading is another casualty. 

I do read the news and the occasional long-form article. But books? Like a hard copy of a book, forget it. 

Writing took the hit as well. I'm surprised I've written them much in the last week. 

It's something I'd love to change. 

In fact, thinking about it now, I can't remember the last thing I read. 

Just writing this post, I'm thinking I need to commit to putting my phone down and reading again. 

I'm thinking of watching a movie without a phone in my hands. Unfortunately, watching a movie while scrolling through my phone has become a bad habit. 

I've been watching and reading a lot about being bored. How being bored can stimulate creativity. 

I did log off my Twitter last night with plans to deactivate my account. I mainly use it to troll folks and practice my witty retorts. 

As fun as that is, and it is fun, I remembered Matthew Dicks' question: what would your hundred-year-old self do? 

I have a lot of work to do. 

One of the most immediate jobs is getting my mind back. 

I'm a big believer that smartphones and social media have hijacked our brains. 

This isn't a good thing, especially for a wannabe creative. 

So something has got to change. 

I am proud of some of the work I've done for now. 

I've fixed my blog (now I need to work on my website). 

I have some ideas on how to move forward. 

I've cleaned up my backlog of photos (but my workflow still sucks). 

And I may have even helped Jake get a couple of more jobs. 

I know where my problems are; I need to work on them. 

So here's my challenge for the next week. 

I will plug in my phone and only use it when I need it. 

And I'll see what my week looks like next week. 

I need to get better at taking time out of my day and reading more, plus taking more pictures. 

I would like to get back to writing my thoughts down in a journal instead of relying on my phone. 

I need a new system to capture my thoughts.