One week into eliminating seven forms
of media from my life. I have gone one week without Facebook, TV,
iPod, car radio, Pinterest, Jigzone, and Phileas. For those of you
who are not in the know, Phileas is my GPS. Every appliance needs a
name to feel loved.
Things I have noticed:
- It's very quiet in the car. Really quiet. I like it. Except when I don't. To fill the empty space, I have, however, been known to become so engrossed in prayer (eyes open) or planning that I miss an exit. That doesn't happen with just the radio on.
- I have no idea what's going on in my friends' lives. I don't like it. I want my Facebook back. It's not a useless part of my day; it's a valuable tool for keeping up and caring about others. I really, really miss your status updates! But, I probably spend too much time there.
- I am having electronic jigsaw puzzle withdrawal symptoms. This includes sitting in my chair in the morning with my cup of tea staring at my computer thinking, What do I do? What is this object in front of me, and how on earth am I supposed to start my day? I mean really, how much can be expected of me at 7 am anyway? Funny, but now I'm starting my day with the Bible. What a concept. Not that I didn't read it before, but now it's first. I hope to maintain that habit.
- It is very easy to fill space with other things that don't need to be done. Why do we do this? So I'm not spending that first half hour of the day with Facebook and Jigzone. You know what? It takes very little time to realize I can rediscover StumbeUpon and Sporcle (a trivia quiz site) and waste equal amounts of time there. Maybe not waste, because we all need breaks, and there is some level of brain exercise involved. (Heaven knows those quizzes on 70's TV shows must be warding off Alzeimer's right?).
For this week, I've been trying to
learn not to fill space. To just let it be. To let quiet be quiet, to
let mornings sounds be birds instead of keystrokes, to allow for
reconsideration of simple rhythms. Overall, yes, I like it.
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