An Evening Under the Cedar Trees
How a digital "unplug" opened space for a moment of awe.
Lori Erwin-Johnson, MS Psy
7/13/20252 min read


I’m sitting in my yard as evening creeps in, listening to the call of a Cooper’s Hawk echoing through the trees. It’s calling out to its mate with a sharp, wild, rhythmic tone. The sound is both grounding and beautiful, and I feel lucky. Lucky to live here. Lucky for this moment. The air is mild, the wildlife abundant, and above me stand the majestic cedar trees; my old friends, holding space.
There’s something sacred about evenings like this. I’m not checking emails. I’m not scrolling. I’m not answering notifications or trying to “just finish one more thing.” I’m unplugged from the hustle of the day and from the constant pull of the screen.
And unfortunately, it is a pull.
Screens are everywhere now, on our phones, computers, televisions, and even in our cars. And while they’re useful and sometimes even uplifting (who hasn’t found joy in a video chat with someone you love?), they’ve also quietly reshaped how we live. According to statistics, the average adult in the U.S. spends over 7 hours a day looking at a screen. Excessive screen time has been linked to increased anxiety, disrupted sleep, eye strain, and even changes in brain structure and function.
It’s not just physical fatigue. There’s an emotional dulling, too. A constant buzz that keeps us hovering above our lives instead of living within them.
But here, in this moment, under these trees, I feel something different. Present. Alive. Me.
Sometimes we need to remember who we are without the notifications and scrolling. To step away from the feeds and listen instead to the world around us. The Cooper’s Hawk doesn’t need a photo filter. The trees aren’t worried about social media metrics. And I don’t need to be anywhere else but here.
So tonight, I’m choosing stillness over stimulation. Breath over bandwidth. And presence over productivity.
Tomorrow I’ll plug back in, but not without first remembering this moment and the truth it whispered:
There is more to life than what’s on a screen.
And sometimes, the best way to reconnect… is to unplug