Page 32 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 27 Final

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MY PHONE, MY FRIEND, MY LOVE:
NAVIGATING THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL
Fr Anselm Adodo, Ewu Edo State, Nigeria
young man suffered from a
sudden ailment that rendered
A him unconscious for two days.
Fortunately, on the third day, he started to
wake up in his hospital bed, surrounded by
his loved ones. As he opened his eyes after
three days of silence, he uttered his first
words: “Please let me have my phone, my
friend, my love.”
In this age of amazing technology, our
phones have become more than just tools.
They have become friends, confidants, and
gateways to a world that is always linked.
We use them as extensions of ourselves,
showing off our lives on social media while
trying to feel important and in charge. But in
this dance of digital freedom, we often get
caught up in a strange web of loneliness and
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a growing fear of losing control.
The smartphone of today is an incredibly
useful tool. It gives us access to information,
lets us stay in touch with loved ones far
away, and gives us the power to handle
different parts of our lives. But the appeal
of being in charge can lead us wrongly and
give us a false sense of importance. As we
shape our online personas, we use ‘likes’,
‘comments’, and ‘followers’ to decide how
important we are, mistaking virtual validation
for real importance. Our phones used to just
be tools, but now they give us a sense of self-
worth and make us think we’re in charge of
the story.
But underneath the shiny surface of online
validation is a deeper truth: the more we
hold on to the illusion of power, the lonelier