How A 10th-Century Warrior Poem Inspired Me To Quit Social Media

My life used to be dominated by information updates, email messages, and social marketing alerts. They were the first points I noticed when I woke up, and they kept me busy for days and nights— that is, until a song that was written thousands of years ago convinced me to break my dependence on my smartphone’s’s consistent needs.

I had to read and write a report about” The Wanderer ,” an Old English song with 115 lines that has been preserved from an old book from the 10th century, as part of my writing course. Its main character is a hero who resembles Beowulf and rebels against the commotion and joy of the honey hall. It offers a comprehensive view of life.

In today’s’s fast-paced world, reading an old song that made me reconsider my relationship with technology may seem like an unlikely source of advice. But for a cause, its knowledge has withstood the test of time.

A vision of life that goes beyond the present is presented in” The Wanderer.” I came to the realization that public television is a transient and really unsatisfying source of happiness as I thought about its message. The only thing that would give me room to promote actions that improved my thoughts, body, and spirit was establishing limits on how much I used my phone.

But I had to read the poem really. I checked my email as I dove into the language and discovered that a meeting had been canceled. I now had a few special days to use Instagram. I tried to resume my function after closing the game a half-hour afterwards.

In” The Wanderer ,” the main character loses everything he values, including his lord, his combat partners, and his seat at the table. ” How that time has passed by dark under the cover of night as if it never had been ,” he bemoans his predicament.

A new thump distracted me with a YouTube video about the Ukraine War as I typed, emphasizing my serious things about temporary existence and the everlasting things. I vowed to myself that I may return to work in 15 days. It was a” mental break ,” I explained.

I went back to my report after almost an afternoon.

The traveller was in a terrible state of fear and isolation. His primary option was to turn his focus away from the fleeting nature of things on earth. He found peace and became more in tune with God as a result of his search for meaning and purchase.

I abruptly understood that I was equally lost as the traveller. I had spent countless hours on my app, which had left me feeling disorganized, worn out, and alone. I had had enough of it.

When images of my girlfriend and her new boyfriend exploded in our community group talk, I was beginning to believe that something needed to change.

I stopped myself even as I was about to FaceTime my girl. No. I had to focus on my date before returning to the poem’s’s themes of philosophical acceptance and spiritual fulfillment.

I couldn’t help but feel confused as I sat it. In my university class, I was learning about the good life and human blooming, yet here I found myself leading a life marked by blatant abuse. It was an odd duality that made me uneasy.

At that point, I was reminded of my high school teacher, a father and husband to five boys who had flipped phones so he could be with his life outside the school. In the meantime, my college teacher, who was liberated from the constraints of public television, passed his free time reading classic literature like” Piers Plowman” and studying various versions of the Bible.

The people I most valued and enjoyed spending time with didn’t had public television accounts. This time, I was not ignore the trend because it was so apparent. My primary choices were to recognize through imitation or to continue being controlled by the constant demands of public television.

I was aware of what I had to do. Every public television app was removed from my telephone. That occurred one and a half years later.

My phone is a transient and unfulfilling source of happiness, as” The Wanderer” taught me. I was able to slow down and concentrate on the things that matter most — my work as a college, my friends and family, and my religion — by setting limits on how I used public television. I won’t be using public television today, but I will now email messages and occasionally watch a favorite movie.

All is unpleasant in this earth kingdom, the poem says at the end. Great is he who maintains his belief. The person who asks for forgiveness and comfort from the Father in the skies, where all of our stability is found, will fare better.

I soon had a genuine sense of connection.