52 reasons to put your phone down

52 reasons to put your phone down

I’m not a big collector of things, I don’t collect steins or thimbles or stamps or shot glasses. But, I do like playing cards and have several really cool decks. A few years ago my wife gave me a deck which was called Music Genius. It’s an awesome set of playing cards that has illustrations of musical greats on each card - no repeats.

Fast forward to now, I’m sick, have been for a week or so and I’m bored and tired and can’t stand playing anymore games on my phone. So, I started looking through my decks and grabbed the aforementioned set of cards. I opened the pack, pulled out the jokers, cut the deck and shuffled. Damn, there is something so rewarding about feeling cards in your hand, hearing the fast slapping of each one as the split deck merges into one again. You can almost feel a slight breeze from the shuffle.

As I laid out my deck (using the sing-songy technique my grandfather taught me), I saw my familiar friends show up - Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, etc… It was nice to see them again. Counting out the cards - I felt the crispness of the thick, textured stock and the smoothness of the coating. Each illustration was unique and popped off the page. So much better than sliding my finger across my phone, so much more engaging than clicking my index finger on a piece of glass and waiting for a preprogrammed bit of animation to make my barely visible (1/8th high) card spin across my screen.

I played several rounds and never won. I almost turned on some music, but with each card I flipped, I heard the words of the musician playing in my head. It was a very immersive experience. Very therapeutic. I’m still sick, but for a couple hours I was able to get lost in the experience. So, when I packed everyone away - I said goodbye to Hank, Patsy, Kurt, Diana and Aretha. Appreciating who the artist chose to be the Aces, Kings and Queens. As I packed the last two cards in the colorful, embossed box -  I ask myself the same question I ask every time I use this deck - why are Bjork and David Bowie the Jokers? Ok, that makes 54 reasons.

First published on LinkedIn

    52 reasons / Joe Forbes