When I heard this, I found myself pausing the television and sitting there. I was caught off guard because Yoda, in a movie decades old, was speaking directly to me. It still throws me for a loop.

We are all busy and if you take a moment you’d honestly say you too are busy. Even in the moments like eating our meals, stopping at stop lights, standing in line, or walking the hall at the office we are looking at our cell phones. Check the email, read a text, or scroll through some form of social media, but how often are we just taking time away? When was the last time you didn’t have music on, a screen in front of you, or a few moments distraction-free?

I’ll be honest, I don’t know. I can’t recall when I wasn’t working, doing homework, texting, calling, emailing, looking at social media, and what not. Even in my car I have music playing or something preventing me from just being. It’s for this reason that Yoda’s words hit me so hard. I am never disconnected. Nowadays being disconnected is weird, odd, uncomfortable, and seemingly impossible but for those exact reasons it has become a requirement.

Let’s all start focusing on escaping the technology that prevents us from being alive. Take a few minutes a day free from distraction, noise, contact and chaos. Those few moments will become ritual, treasured minutes yearned for and earned as we battle the chaos around us the rest of the day. Allow yourself to be, just be. Disconnect yourself.

Sarah Deats

Sarah Deats is the Arizona Outpatient Support Services Manager at RI International and the Hope Inc. Stories Inspiration Engineer. Her goals are to make a connection with everyone that she can while building community, spreading hope, and sparking change. She believes that while life may not be easy, it is never lived alone.