Oh, it is easy for me to rationalize my excessive use:
- Facebook helps to keep me in touch with friends from far away and friends close by.
- Pinterest can help inspire me to make cozy home crafts for the holidays and tasty treats for others.
- Blogs can help educate me on photography techniques and books to read.
- Listography can help me brainstorm what to write - and to let others know a bit more about myself.
But I learned something interesting this week when our cable was inadvertently disconnected for three days - I learned that I really don't need these distractions in my life. I can easily find other ways to spend my time, like actually reading a book that has been suggested, or taking some pictures to hone those new skills, or sending a card to one of those close friends. And word document programs - or even the old-fashioned pen and paper, work great to journal my thoughts and feelings.
And it was very eye-opening how I did not miss cable at all for viewing television. I like to watch my morning news - and weather - but quite frankly, I can easily obtain that information from the internet, when available.
But the lesson I really learned over these past three days is that I am incredibly dependent upon the internet for basic communication. Our school relies on the website to update grades, correspond with parents, write lesson plans and provide homework assignments.
Email is my primary form of communication with most people in life. And if a student or a parent has a question or concern, I feel that it is my responsibility as a teacher to answer that note in a timely fashion.
I use the website, 750words.com as my journal and have finally developed the habit of writing every morning. I was nearly lost without access to this site.
And I have used YouVersion for my daily devotionals since February. While I could access the devotion entries on my iPhone - the journaling was made more difficult because I couldn't just copy and paste specific text into my Day One app.
Yes, it has been an interesting three days and while I learned that unplugging can bring me back to a simpler, less distracting life....I also learned that I am completely dependent upon it for some basic communication. It is incredibly hard to believe that 20 years ago, I had never heard of the "world wide web" ... and it makes me question what 20 years from now will look like.
I blog, and that is pretty much it, connect wise. I never took to facebook or twitter, although I glance at them on the rare occasion.
ReplyDeleteWhen we went on vacation, I didn't touch internet for 5 days other than what my phone can do - which isn't much since I don't have a data plan. While I did miss it, I read two and a half books in that time. I wonder sometimes if I should set myself a timer when I sit down at the computer. I used to do that with my kids and video games so they didn't spend all day on them, after all. Maybe next week!
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