Media Fast – 14 Days without Media? Have I Lost My Mind?
I’m a father of 3, a husband of 1, master to one German Shepherd and servant to one cat. I run a business, tend a garden and I generally cook dinner 7 nights a week. I like to hike, I like to draw and I like to spend time drinking coffee on my deck, watching the world go by. I like to noodle on my guitars. I like to read magazines and books about sociology and World War 2. I lose track of all that from time to time.
We’ve got several computers (4, at last count) and many televisions (3, I think) a whole gang of cell phones, video games and electronic doo-dads. DVDs and little televisions for the minivan. iPods, headsets, Skype, Facebook, IM, blogs, radios, CD players, on and on and on…
Sometimes, I’ll find that the house is very quiet. I’m pecking away at a project, my wife is blogging, my son is texting, my other son is watching t.v., my daughter is listening to music and dancing around, waiting for her turn at the t.v. We’re all plugged in. We’re all in the same general vicinity, but we’re miles apart.
So, my wife and I decided that we’d try a little experiment. We’d unplug the family for 14 days. No TV. No computer. No videos or video games. Off the grid.
And you know what – it SUCKED. But it sucked for just a day.
I still had to work, so I had email and web stuff to do – but I didn’t blog, I didn’t Facebook, and I didn’t get to watch my beloved hockey or baseball or reruns of Seinfeld. I read. A LOT. I drew. A LOT. I hung out with the kids – a LOT. And suddenly, it became really, really cool. I found that I missed media, but it wasn’t a sharp pain – it was just a dull throb that got better every day.
The kids started reading and drawing more than usual. My oldest son (13) would actually hang out and we would laugh and carry on. We played board games and worked outside more. It was cool! I missed some good hockey games, I guess, and I didn’t keep up with the blogosphere, but I gained an awful lot:
- More time to think
- More time to draw
- More time to dream and scheme
- More time with the kids
- An acute understanding of just how much time we wasted on electronic gadgetry
- A renewed knowledge of how much I hate television commercials
- More and better sleep
- A reconnection with things that don’t have mice, plugs and full-color screens
- A renewed knowledge of precisely why I work the way I work – my family. My freedom. My art.
We’re through with our 14 days, and we’ve corporately decided that we’re still going to do some things differently. 3 days a week, we’re going to do a 24 hour media fast. And we’re all actually EXCITED about doing that.
We started this solely as a family thing – but it’s turned into something that I think will have lasting effects.
It’s also something you might want to try. As I wrote before, there’s a lot of noise. And it can be totally silent – but there’s just so much going on…
Try unplugging the electronics and reconnecting with your thoughts. If you have a family, hang out with them a bit. If you’re a loner, unplug and get back to your roots. You might not be as “productive” in the traditional sense – but you’ll kick-start your brain.
For most of us, that’s a good thing. For me, kick-starting my brain is akin to starting an old Harley with no gasoline and a thousand pounds of rust. But – it feels good to get it going…
