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Unencumbered Waiting — 3 Reasons to Get Off your Phone

Diane Aoki
3 min readMay 5, 2023

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Waiting for a delayed flight not so bad when you can see a gorgeous sunset. Authorʻs image.

The norm these days when you are waiting for things — like for your plane to board — is to always have something to do. Most of the time, we are on our electronic devices. Once in a while, I will see people reading actual books or magazines. Very few of us sit there and do nothing but wait. I have decided that this will be my preferred mode of waiting.

Yesterday, while waiting for my delayed flight at the airport, my phone gave me the dreaded warning that I was down to 20% of battery remaining. Since I needed it to contact my cousin picking me up at my destination, I decided to not use my phone anymore. I did have a magazine I could have pulled out, but instead, I just sat.

1. People-Watching

You could say I was people watching. There were two adorable toddlers twirling and their mom, looking exasperated, trying to get their things organized for boarding. A few people were being entertained by them, including a couple of robed Buddhist monks, who were already in this non-electronic enlightened state that I am seeking, as I write this. When you wait unencumbered by devices in places like at airports, rather than in lines, you can see faces, body language, clothing, interesting carry-on pieces. If someone was watching me, they would have seen me with a small ukulele in the pocket of a guitar…

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Diane Aoki
Diane Aoki

Written by Diane Aoki

Playwright, essayist, teacher, artist, songwriter, poet. Creativity Activist.

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