Yesterday was a very strange day for me. For one entire day I washed away of all the digital residue, and lived life without my smartphone. I hovered between the worlds of reality and electricity. It was a place where time seemed to seep slower, where the flow of information was stifled. A place where entertainment and interaction seemed vaguely detached, like floating silently underwater and watching the shapes shift above the surface. I felt disoriented. I felt uncomfortable. For 24 painstaking hours I lived in this limbo.
I must admit, it was not my choice to abstain from the pulse of connectivity. I was merely waiting (begrudgingly) on the replacement for my old phone. I was well aware that I used my phone for various functions throughout the day, but did not realize the deficit I would feel due to my dependence on this little gadget.
It was refreshing, I must say, to be free of all of the noise, without the snaps, the tweets, the updates, the notifications and messages, inundating every moment. I think that there can be a real abuse of fusing our digital life into our physical existence. I also believe, however, that we sometimes take for granted the amazing opportunity we have to connect, experience, and engage the world around us.
Like never before, we have the ability to pool our ideas, exchange unique moments, and collaborate on our aspirations. It was this very notion that first sparked Numbers For The Cause just a few years ago: that together we can do amazing things. One of the main reasons I felt so incomplete without my phone was because I am so used to having the constant sense of connection with community. It is inherent for us to band together; and when we band for something momentous, monumental things happen.
Our commitment to each charity we partner with is to donate $5 of every shirt sold until we raise $1M for the cause.
International Children's Heart Foundation was our first partner, and cause.
1% of all kids are born with a heart defect. In the U.S. it is a simple surgery that saves millions of lives, but in many countries the hands and resources are just not available to perform this simple life-saving procedure. ICHF sends teams of surgeons and medical specialists around the world to save the lives of children who can't get access to proper care.
All of our t-shirts and designs from our TAKE HEART line proudly sponsors the mission of the International Children's Heart Foundation. You can learn more at: http://babyheart.org/
Agape International Missions our second partnering cause, dedicated to the fight to end human trafficking.
AIM is also a hands-on organization that goes out into the far reaches of the world and rescues girls from the dark, tangled system of sex trafficking. They not only emancipate girls from this slavery, but also walk them through rehabilitation, schooling, and place them in a career to support themselves and family.
All of our t-shirts and designs from our STOP TRAFFIC line proudly sponsors the mission of the Agape International Missions. You can learn more at: http://agapewebsite.org/
We are bursting at the seams to see what the future has in store! We will keep you posted (every Friday) on what is NEW with Numbers and the Causes. Starting this Monday, our weekly t-shirt designs will be available! Every week a new design will be unlocked, and of course $5 of each tee will support the cause.
Until next week...
Keep It Abnormally Real,
Joey