I keep hearing warnings about “phone addiction,” especially when it comes to older people. But I wonder if we’re asking the wrong question.
Fifty years ago, a woman living alone had far fewer ways to stay connected to the world. Today, a phone can be a library, a classroom, a conversation, a community, a lifeline, and a source of companionship. For many older women, it doesn’t shrink life. It expands it.
The question isn’t how much time someone spends on their phone. The question is what that phone is helping them do. Is it making life smaller or larger? Is it feeding curiosity, connection, creativity, and engagement? If it is, maybe we should stop treating every new way of living as a problem simply because it looks different from what came before.
Maybe the problem isn’t the phone.
Maybe the problem is assuming there’s only one right way to live.
Has your phone expanded your world or shrunk it? I’d genuinely love to know. Tell me in the comments.
If this piece gave you permission to stop apologizing for the quiet life that actually fits you, I’d love for you to bring it to Tuesday.
The Breakthrough Circle gathers every week on Zoom — and for a limited time, I’m offering 20% off an annual membership. Not because solitude needs fixing. Because some conversations are better when you don’t have to have them alone.
Come as you are. The door is open.
