Still Human, Still Doing the Doing
Still Human, Still Doing the Doing
Who else is already tired of everything being optimized, connected, and overheard?! AND we just came off summer, when we often check out of all that stuff a bit more.
I like to take a little extra time in September to reflect on my past year—more so than in January. Does anyone else do this too? As summer draws to a close and fall steps in, I unplug when I can, reread my writing from past years, and take inventory.
Today, I came upon a journal from my 50th birthday year, three years ago. I was in desperate need of unplugging at that time in my life, so I went to a special place, far away, to disconnect. Lucky me—it was my 50th, after all! As I approached that birthday, I was already doing some good stuff to unplug: protecting the dinner table, guarding Sundays from screens, etc. But when it came to work, the apps, phones, AirPods, watches, and devices were in my space all the time.
So, I took a wellness trip where my devices were locked away from me for five days. No computer, no phone, no watch, no AirPods—nothing that beeped or buzzed. Just a notebook and pen and my thoughts. Yes, I was fearful. I had two kids in college and another who lived far away. That first 24 hours was brutal. I had the urge to check in and make sure everyone was OK.
But then day two came and went, and the discomfort I was feeling turned into something else—something more freeing. My mind began to wander. I moved slower. I slept better. I began to really notice the world around me again. The world had not ended without me, either. I let it all go, and the world let me begin with me again. Being human felt whole.
Fast-forward three years to the present. Even when we think we’re disconnected, it can feel like our devices are still listening. A different kind of connection altogether.
Just yesterday, I was making a recipe in the kitchen, the dog jumping up on me for celery as I was dancing and singing to the New Radicals song “You Only Get What You Give.” It was total chaos and real life!
Ten minutes later, I was back on a screen for a call, and Google popped up to suggest I try lentils in my recipe. Also: “Here’s how to stop your dog from jumping.” YIKES! Did I ask for this? Did I mention lentils out loud? NO! I just wanted to be in my mess, in real time, for realz-sies—dog, salad, bad singing and all. That’s it.
Disconnecting, truly, is getting harder. And if we struggled to place limits or boundaries on all this stuff before, how the heck can we possibly do it now?
Here’s a good reminder: we are still human. We make mistakes. We hurt. We cry. We laugh. We jiggle. We make. We serve. We love. And we still have agency over our choices—our health, our sleep, our movement, our relationships, our food, mostly.
No device opens your fridge. (Yet.)
No device makes your food for you. (Yet.)
No app moves your body for you. (Yet.)
You build your strong bones with muscle.
You make the food to nourish your gut, heart, and brain.
That’s ALL STILL YOU. Yay!
Screens can play the workout. They cannot do the rep. Screens cannot chew, swallow, digest, lift, sweat, or rest. Being human is still a physical act, every single day, whether your device crafted you a recipe or planned your next vacation. You do the doing.
So, three years later and wiser at 53 (ha ha), here’s what has changed for me. My kids are further into their own lives—off life-ing, job-bing, career-ing. And the home is quieter, so it’s easier than ever to justify screen time: a new Netflix series at night after dinner, a song to listen to at dinner to create the noise we miss, an article to read together or share—all on a screen.
Quiet and loneliness seem to have a strange way of pulling us toward screens instead of away from them. We have to work that much harder at the dinner table for two. We have to dial back in on the importance of quiet Sundays to rest and restore.
It’s more important than ever to disconnect because no one is going to do it for you. Just you.
Three ways back to real life
Here are three things I’ve tried—and things I’m working on this fall—to help get us off the screen and back into the realz-sies moments of life:
Pick one non-negotiable window, every single day. Mine used to be Sunday. (That’s not happening this fall with football, as a Buckeye and Bills fan.) So, choose yours with purpose. The first 30 minutes after you wake up, or the hour before bed? Same window, every day, phone in another room.
Consistency is what makes it stick and stack, not your willpower in the moment.Replace the device, don’t just remove it. It’s not just the phone—it’s everything the phone was doing for you: the alarm, the timer, the music, the scroll. Get an alarm clock. Use a kitchen timer. Put on real music, no AirPods.
When you replace the function, the phone stops being the automatic reach.Move your body without your phone or device. Walk without it all. Work out without it. Even 10 minutes of movement can help you slow down and settle back into your body.
Movement is one of the fastest ways back into your body and out of your head.
And it’s a great reminder that YOU, physically, are still here, still capable, still human and resilient, long before your mind catches up.
JRAPPFIT is a brand built on value, consistency, compassionate energy, and understanding of human experience and ability. So if there is one thing I can offer you out of all of this, it’s this—
STOP UNDERESTIMATING YOURSELF!
Trusting yourself starts with intentionally listening to yourself: your body and what it is capable of saying yes to, your ability to open the fridge and say yes to the meal that nourishes you, your muscles that build strength when you choose to lift a weight. Your value is right there, under that layer of devices, always ready to shine brighter than any screen.
This fall, give yourself a little room to hear it—and remember that the most meaningful things in your life still begin with you doing the doing.
And if you are opening your fridge and need to get back in the game of meal prepping for yourself, I have two spots left to join a small group of women stepping into my custom 8 weeks Nutrition Program starting Monday, September 21st.
And if you’re home gym is collecting dust, it’s not too late to join my online strength programs. My Beginner Fall Class A term is full and closed. But there are lots of options to get you started now.
It’s all here:
Method 25 Nutrition Program
Prep. Build. Stack.
🫶
-Jenny
