Life...Unplugged

Confesion numero tres: My name is Mari and I am an internet-oholic.

About one month ago, I took a mundane yet bold step to unplug myself from all the stimuli that many of us indulge as if our lives depended on it-- Facebook, Blackberry, Twitter...all of it. I took a 48+ hour break from it all. I turned off my phone, checked no emails, did not read any tweets..nada. I did it as a personal challenge. No big deal, right? Wrong.

I found myself in cold sweats about not being able to check the every move of my many acquaintances and few close friends. I missed the ring that Mr. Berry makes when I get the useless emails that all have deadlines, directives...blah blah blah. I missed the sporadic phone calls that rarely bore good news but mostly reinforced the details of useless emails. I started to realize it was a vicious cycle: I get emails from people who often then call me to talk about the same crap that they emailed me about. I realized I am too connected and not in a way that I was happy with. Change was needed.

I took inventory of other ways that I could supplement my time away from technology. I watched TV, movies and the like. I read magazines and the book I had been neglecting for weeks. I thought...yeah I thought. About life. Where am I going? What do I want out of my career? Am I proud of the person I have become? All that deep stuff that I have been neglecting as I have been busily responding to my 'time-sensitive' and important messages and ridiculous tweets. Those 48 hours did me a world of good.

Now, I would be a complete hypocrite to expound upon the glories of my "tech-free" weekend, as if I have left my past 'connected' life behind. I have not. I still tweet my heart out, RT the wittiness of other Tweeps sparingly, and check my email and the lackluster status updates of my Facebook friends more times per day than I care to admit. All of it plays a role in my life - but not the main role. I've come to believe that all of the technology should be the "Dave Coulier" to my "Bob Saget" (Sorry, in a Full House mood- but you get my point ;-)

I have written and sent quite a few cards recently, just because. I have initiated (non-email) contact with old friends and distant family. I have decided to forgo immediate responses to emails on the Metro that Mr. Berry has alerted me to. It's not that serious. It's email-- not life or death. It can wait. Life cannot.

In the meantime, I need to get myself together. And every month or so, that may motivate future 'unplugged' weekends. Who's with me?

Try it and let me know how it goes. Even if you cave after 4 hours. Let me know the bliss (or stress) that you felt for those 240 minutes of 'disconnected' freedom.

Besos,

Loca