Conversations reveal solutions

Last week I had a call with my nurse, a routine thing because I recently turned 40 years old. I had left some test samples and answered a lengthy questionnaire regarding just about every topic regarding my physical and mental health. Or Body and Soul, which are the terms I would prefer. In the questionnaire, one of the topics was “Is there anything in your life that you want to reduce?” or something similar. My gut response was screen time. I spend way too much time behind screens and just a little while of free thought here and there would make a huge difference. When talking with my nurse for an hour, I cracked an idea that is ridiculously simple on how to achieve it. Isn’t it fascinating how you can often find solutions to your problems yourself as soon as you articulate and define your problem to someone else?

I have two Labrador retrievers which I walk three times every day in the forest. These walks are an excellent occasion to listen to podcasts or audiobooks – something that I have been spending an insane number of hours doing. For reference, I listened to 100 audiobooks in about one year. I just crank up the playback speed as fast as I can comprehend and then back off slightly. It’s the same basic principle as “speed reading” books. This is great to consume so much wonderful knowledge while doing something with your body, but of course it comes with a price. The price is that you will never give your mind the rest it needs every now and then. If you practice a muscle constantly and never ever give it some well-deserved rest, something is going to break sooner or later. The solution is obvious: Just leave the phone behind when I go on my dog walks.

The catch, however, is that I love to snap nature pictures when I am out walking. I have caught some mind-bogglingly good pictures just using my phone camera in recent years. Remember: The best camera is the one you have with you and use. The phone is thus the best camera I have ever owned, beating my fancy system cameras and lenses hands down. And herein lies the problem. When the phone is in my pocket, it is too easy to just grab it and start listening to something or reading something. It is without a doubt a form of addiction, just like the developers intended all along. Leaving the phone behind will give my mind the rest it deserves, and I would be more present while walking. But I would lose every “Kodak moment” too, and that is simply a price I am not prepared to pay.

And when I told this story to my nurse, another ridiculously simple solution popped up in my mind: A compact camera. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about my old Sony RX100 that I sometimes give to my three-year old son. It has a great lens and can snap fantastic pictures, that can outperform the phone with the right user behind the wheel. Why not just put that one in the inner pocket of my dog walking jacket? That would solve the problem instantly. Well, there’s no excuse not to do it so I did it the same second as my conversation with my nurse was over. I haven’t snapped any “Kodak moment” yet, but it will come. But I could instantly feel more peace while walking the dogs.

The solution was right in front of me all the time. And it was revealed by a conversation. Don’t forget to talk about your problems with someone else. Chances are, you might then solve them yourself.