This post is going to go against the grain.
This post is going to be counter intuitive.
What I am hear to tell you is that we all spend too much time on our computers.
There, I said it!
I learned a few things in the rolling hills of Vermont.
Did you know that every year my family takes a camping trip on the boarder of Canada in Vermont. It is beautiful and peacefull. No, we are not in the deep woods, but on a lake surrounded by mountains that do not allow for cell/internet service. There is no 3G. There is no 4G. There is only the sound of the lake which is actually a really nice sound.
So after my two week detox, I learned that
I AM OVERLY CONNECTED. I'm sure that I am not the only one who can say this either, but two weeks of forced non connection has made me realize
it. When home computers and cell phones first came on the scene (yes, I am that old that I remember that), they were designed to enhance our lives. And, don't get me wrong, they have done that. The problem is they really have overtaken it. You can no longer be offline with your smart phone. Everyone expects to be able to reach you at any given moment via text, email, social media, or just a plain old phone call.
So with two weeks forced offline what did I learn? I learned that if I don't update my Facebook Status it's ok. I learned that I can read and finish several books on my to do list. I learned that my family and I can have a dinner without interruptions and maybe not rush through it to get to the next thing on our list. I learned that it's ok, not to check my email what seems like 600 times a day because when you check it less frequently you see how little of them really need your attention.
What do I plan to do with my new found knowledge and freedom? Am I planning to cancel my Facebook account? Give up my smart phone? NO WAY! What I am planning to do is to release some of the strings a little that I thought I needed to stay connected. What does that mean???? I'm not really sure. I think it means that I am going to turn off my computer more. Check in on Facebook less (can't help it as I really do stay connected with far away friends and family there). Not check my phone every time it makes a sound that I have an email. Give up my blog? No (although you may wish that I did).
Really life is meant to live not stare at a computer. It's like that car commerical with the girl staring at a computer screen talking about her "older" parents and how they only have a few Facebook friends while she has over 600. Then they show the parents out with real people doing real things while the girl is sitting at her computer.
I don't want to be the girl at the computer! Now, I realize that I live in a time and place that I can't stay unconnected and I don't want to be unconnected. I have a friend who for years had no cell phone and even when she got one, you could never reach her on it. It took me a while to realize that maybe she had it right after all.
Live, Laugh, Love
and
Scrap it all!
