Unplugging, Part 2

In my last post, I was getting ready for a week at a friends cabin, without Internet of cell phone service. While I planned to enjoy it and make the most of the opportunity to unplug, I must admit that I expected to go through withdrawals. I simply didn't know how to live without e-mail, connecting with friends on Facebook, and talking on the phone. But you know what? I didn't miss it. Not one bit!

Yes, I missed my family and my friends, but I missed the face-to-face time more than the online chatting. I loved the lack of pressure to answer messages right away. I noticed that the day seemed to last longer, and in a good way. My friends and I had wonderful talks about God and how He was working in our lives. We took walks, watched old movies, and laughed; I journaled, finished one book and started another, learned a new card game, and actually sat on the deck for a while doing nothing but stare up at the treetops. The longer I went without tapping my fingers against keys and starring at a screen, the more I started to wonder how I might work some unplugged time into my regular routine.

Now I'm home again, and the computer calls to me, reminding me how much I need to catch up on. Once again, I'm asking myself how I can work the benefits of last week into life at home. Perhaps, I will keep my computer powered off on Sundays, or turn it off at dinner time each night. Whatever I choose, I'm thankful for last week and the gifts I found in going technology free.

When has a time of living differently inspired you to make changes? What good things have come of it?

A Week to Unplug

This week, I am getting ready to send my son off to camp for the first time. He is going with a good friend of his and can't wait! While our boys swim, boat, and possibly brave the ropes course, my friend Anne and I get to join our friend Rebecca at her family cabin. Isn't it darling?

While at the cabin, I will brave my own little adventure: a week without Internet access or cell service. When Anne told me that we wouldn't have either, I must say I was thrilled. As much as I love connecting with my friends on Facebook, browsing the web, e-mail, and phones, lately I have felt the pressure to chained to them from morning 'til night. The opportunity to unplug feels like a gift from God. I decided to go for it full-on and leave my laptop at home. Any writing I do will be with pen and paper. (Remember those?) I plan to read, spend time with God, enjoy the speakers that we get to hear from in the evenings, take walks, and just enjoy being with my friends. I can't wait to see what God does during this break from technology!

Would you like to share in my challenge? How about unplugging from devices for a day or even half a day? Or perhaps you have done this lately already? I would love to hear how God uses it to refresh you.

Life without My Computer?

We came very close to being computerless today. My laptop is being repaired and my son’s crashed over the weekend (he is looking for a good deal so he can replace it in time for fall semester), leaving us with an old desktop. This morning, while dusting that old, tired computer, the screen suddenly went blank. After playing around with the cords it came back on, but I’ll admit I was really nervous. Besides the fact that I have a project due on Wednesday and needed to post this blog today, I had e-mails to return. My son has been searching on-line for his replacement laptop. I need a computer.

That got me thinking: what would I do if I did not have access to Internet, e-mail, or even MS Word? What if I had no control over when this computer-free season would end? What would I do? It would impact my career, my contact with friends . . . so many things. If not for that, maybe it would be such a bad thing. It would force me to . . .
Write with pen and paper (maybe my handwriting would improve)
Call friends on the phone
Spend more time with my family
Spend more time with God
Read more
Get more done around the house

What would you do without your computer? How would it complicate your life? How might it impact you in a good way? How do thoughts of what you would do without Internet access and social networking prompt you to consider new ways to spend your time and interact with friends?

Unplugging

Last week I spent time away at a cabin with family and a few friends. The only way to get to it was by boat, and once there, we were cut off from Internet access and telephones. Cell phone signals were weak, and while we had a TV, it worked for DVDs only--if you happened to bring any.

I loved it.

We explored the tucked-away inlets of the lake by boat or kayaked across the quiet waters as far as we dared go. We played games, read, slept, ate, and celebrated a couple birthdays.

It was a tech-free time away.

When I returned, I settled into wrapping up preparations for a talk that I gave this morning—on quite the contrasting topic. Technology addiction.

Among the facts, research, and studies covered was one called 24 Hours Unplugged, with findings released just last week. 200 students from the University of Maryland participated. They were to abstain from technology and media for one day and then blog about their experience.

A few facts about the project:

It was led by Susan Moeller, a journalism professor at the University of Maryland and the director of the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda.

When the 24 hours was up, the students blogged 110,000 words—the same number of words as a 400-page novel. (Hmmm . . . this gives me an idea for how to finish my next book.)

What they seemed to write most strongly about was the lack of access to text messaging, instant messaging, phone calls, e-mail, and Facebook. Moeller said that “going without media meant, in their world, going without their friends and family.”

One said, “I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable.”

Many admitted they were “incredibly addicted” to media. Students wrote of how they felt while abstaining for the 24-hour period, using descriptions similar to those that go with drug and alcohol addictions: withdrawal, frantically craving, very anxious, extremely antsy, miserable, jittery, and crazy feeling

I bet those were freaky symptoms to discover. I wonder what they thought about that, what they decided about their technology lifestyle.

Some participants reported revelations and benefits of abstaining:

“I took better notes and was more focused.”
“It was actually a relief to step away from (my computer) and spend time doing other things.”
“I picked up on more details and things about people I live around that I had never
noticed before.”
“I realized how much media causes me to miss out on physical fitness and healthy eating habits.”
“I probably had more ‘thinking time’ that day than any day spent at college.”
“By not being able to listen to my iPod, I could hear natural sounds like birds chirping or people calling my name.”

Wow! I can relate to that last one when I think again about my recent time away. The call of an osprey flying overhead. The rhythm of raindrops on the roof. Water lapping against the kayaks and the splash of oars sliding in and out. Conversations and laughter of friends and family. Thoughts and prayers slipping through my mind as I watched the moon slide across the sky.

Wonderful sounds. Unforgettable experiences. God calling my name.

Jan

author of Eyes Online, Eyes On Life
http://www.jankern.com/