There was a power outage last week. Well, actually, an internet outage. The lights and garage door worked, it’s just the wifi that doesn’t. It’s weird, because there wasn’t a storm or any weird weather recently. Maybe an old tree fell on the power line.

Right now, it’s been a week since the wifi has cut. I haven’t been able to use social media or text anyone, and I thought this would be really boring, but honestly I feel so much better now. I don’t have to endlessly compare myself to those pretty girls and their perfect lives. I can’t throw away all those hours doomscrolling, so now I can spend my time doing things I enjoy, like playing the cello and going on walks.

I still have school, unfortunately, but we don’t use projectors or computers anymore. Now we have to fall back to whiteboards and notes. The printers still work, so there’s no lack of worksheets and tests, but I’m so not used to no digital learning. We learned less, but we remembered more.

It’s been a year without wifi. From the little I’ve heard on the radio, it sounds like this wasn’t just one small shutdown, instead it was a global internet crash. Nobody really knows why it happened, but people are working to understand and fix it. I don’t know if I want it fixed.

Honestly, I like it better this way. Now I can wake up slowly, and not have to instantly open my device and check for notifications. I don’t have to throw away time scrolling or drown in all the stimulation, and I feel so much better about myself and my life.

Not everyone likes it, though. Most people want the wifi back, and the world is working on fixing the cables, which is apparently the cause of the outage, but it’s slow. It’s hard to communicate, and without online manuals or help, it’s difficult getting things done the old way. It’ll come back eventually, though. That’s what the radio said.

Well, they fixed it. Yesterday, the wifi came back. I’d hesitated, then opened my device out of habit. So many lights, it was so bright, so overwhelming. My eyes hurt within seconds. How did I do this for hours before the outage?

I’d opened social media for a minute, and scrolled like I used to. The intrusive thoughts came back so fast I didn’t know what to do. I’d closed my device and sighed.

Maybe the world would be better without the internet.