Unplugging
I learned about something new this week though my church newsletter: There is a national day of unplugging from electronics.
On the surface this sounds fairly easy. It’s only one day. I’ve still lived without cell phone data for
the majority of my life. So how hard
could it really be to turn it off for one day?
Probably harder than I think. Especially if the data detox includes the TV and computer.
The website offers sleeping bags for your cell phones to
rest during the 24 hour period. While
cute, if I participated in this digital detox, I would keep my phone as a phone. Telephones have existed for a long time and
the idea of being fully unreachable is disconcerting.
However, even with phone power, to disconnect from the
internet, from apps and Google and Facebook?
It would probably be harder than I imagine, even for 24 hours.
My husband and I agreed we
would have to plan for such an occasion.
Ideally we would spend this day somewhere outside, with
friends and family, and a collection of books and journals, and food. The hardest part would be in the evening. TV is an embarrassingly solid part of our
evenings. It doesn’t feel like a
problem until I think about how hard it would be to give it up.
It’s seems as a society, we have developed modern
expectations and pathways of entertainment, and the old ones (board games,
conversation, and books) don’t hold our attention for as long as in years past.
So, perhaps a 24 digital break isn’t such a bad idea.
Turn the data off.
