I love my iPhone. I can talk to friends that are far away, look up whatever I am interested in at the moment and watch videos while I eat my food. Smartphones have slowly become extensions of our bodies. If you really think about it, smartphones are extraordinary. They are encyclopedias, communication devices, cameras, entertainment systems, MP3 players and much more all in one device.

We all have felt that moment of anxiety when we touch our pocket and our phone is not there. We begin patting ourselves down like TSA agents until we find our phones. Our lives are on these 6-inch touch screens. We cherish them dearly.

But one thing I have begun to notice is how addicted people are to their phones. Even when it is raining or snowing, people are still looking down and typing away. Today alone I saw 2 near miss collisions by people so absorbed in their screens. When I look around, I see people bending like obtuse angles over their phones.

This extends even to me. I constantly find myself pushing the power button of my phone hoping something will be different from the last time I did it 10 seconds ago.

People seem to forget there exists a world beyond a Snapchat. Today it was snowing. I was looking at the white crystals falling from the sky while others were staring at the ground with their phone in their hands. Look up from your phones!

I have also noticed that people seem to want to take pictures of everything instead of looking at it directly. People don’t care what your campus looks like. Most of your friends that follow you on Instagram probably see it too.

You miss a lot when you spend a lot of time with your phone. You may not notice a friend walking by. Or that you are walking into a construction site…

I admit this article is pretty ironic. I want you to put your phone down while you read my article on your phone.

So what am I advocating? It may sound like I am a crotchety old man who wants to abolish all technology. I am not. I am merely advising you to forget about your phone for a little while. Take a walk. Now if you are going to use your phone while walking please put it at eye level so you don’t crash into that poor soul who is already having a bad day.

Listen to the music of nature. Or at least indulge in the silence of a winter night. Look at the sky! Even when it is a pure white or black there is still beauty in it. You can like a photo on Instagram of a sunset or you could go outside and look at it in person! What you see will be more beautiful than whatever your camera can capture.