And, as usual, other people are far better at describing the benefits of turning off than I am. In addition to the James Sturm/Slate.com article I linked in my last update, take a look at why one very busy Internet personality “put a brick in” his mailbox.
Are your communication channels adding tremendous value to your life, or are they simply wasting your precious life?
I totally relate to the rat/food button description. It (the internet) also conjures up Bruce Springsteen’s 57 Channels and Nothing on.
I have a routine. Email (3 accounts), face book (personal& business fan page), Etsy ,twitter, Blogger, and finally when I’m satisfied that no one is writing, commenting, tweeting or otherwise noticing me, I play with Super Poke Pets. When I grow bored with that, it’s back to the beginning. I used to do this all day! I’m down to a few hours a day. I bet there are a lot of people just like me.
Nice. Thank you for this.
your experiment has led me to start my own. thank you so much for all this, c. i have been paying attention to my internet usage and the darkness that accompanies it. my garden needs attention, and maybe now it will get some. xx
Thanks, Michael. It’s a little like self-sabotage, isn’t it? And why?
Good luck to us all.
C
Thank you for sharing your experiment. Your experience dovetails with my own. I’ve decided that the internet is a tool to help me attain my personal goals which includes some personal enjoyment (your blog fits that category). So I limit my time ‘online’ and am getting on with living my life.
PS: I don’t have a facebook page, a photo page and have never read a ‘twit’–I mean ‘tweet’. Yes, I’m trying to be virtuous!
This was one of the more interesting and enlightening essays I think I’ve read anywhere, on or off line. “Enlightening” especially in the sense that I sat here thinking, “YES! Me, too! That’s what I’m doing! Hitting that pleasure/food button, filling my time with useless stuff that honestly benefits me very little, much of the time.”
Coincidentally, I made the decision today to retire. I’ve tried to stir up some tiny bit of notice “out there”, made “friends”, and worked at my online marketing, but it is so unsatisfying! What I like to do is Create. Selling it was an excuse for making my art.
From now on, I’m going to make my art just because I want to.
Oh, and I didn’t mean to write an entire essay on your page, but my fingers seemed to take off with my head. I hope you don’t mind.
Anitra, your decision mirrors one that I and other friends have been discussing a lot recently. I think that, in the same way that being constantly exposed to chatter can prevent a person from developing her own thoughts and opinions, the whole “grow your craft business!” movement is all about marketing and leaves very little room for the inspiration and enjoyment that fuels artmaking in the first place.
You might like this article I just read (online, how ironic):
What Happened To Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking and Sacred Space
Goodness, your handwriting is bee-yoo-ti-ful.
I just saw this! The awkward teen in me, who practiced her handwriting every study period, is blushing!