I did something the other week that shocked and amazed my family: I unplugged. For one day. No computer, no tv.
It was everything I dreamed it would be.
I did not require this of anyone else. The kids, especially, need to be led into this slowly, and a new activity needs to be in its place. No, it was just for me.
While my husband played his records, The Lego Kid sat on the computer and Teenager played video games, I read, rested and generally relaxed. Oh, it was heaven!
I knew I needed to do something when I got the feeling that I was drowning in electronics -- primarily, moving back and forth between sitting in front of the tv and cycling endlessly through Facebook, e-mail, Etsy and Pinterest. I was connected, but I didn't feel, well, alive.
I didn't miss the technology. In fact, it was actually sort of calming. And grounding.
My husband and I have been talking about how we can unplug the entire family, perhaps even once a week. As I said, it would be harder on the boys, so we were kicking around the idea of day trips as a way of getting out of the house and away from the bright, shiny objects. I don't expect this idea to be met with happy faces from Teenager and The Lego Kid, but sometimes you have to feed your needs, not your wants.
Amen to that! It's funny -I've tried it before and before long, I felt so much calmer and peaceful. I think that there is a trigger in our brains that makes us think that we have to check, check and recheck the sites that we're on over and over throughout the day so it always feels like we have tons to do in the backs of our minds.
ReplyDeleteCan you remember the time before the internet? Or email even? How things weren't so urgent? Back in the day if someone called you and didn't get you, they understood if it took days for you to call them back. Now, with e-mail, they just assume that you check it every hour and no response feels like a slight. It's an interesting world that we've gotten ourselves into! Somehow, we are made to feel that we won't be a part of society if we're not social networking.