UnPlugging: Learning 3

Many of my friends are able to honestly say that they do not check facebook very often - maybe just a couple times a week. I admire that and must admit that I check facebook constantly every day. It is my go to website on my computer. If my computer is next to me and I have nothing else to check online, I check facebook, even if I just checked it 5 minutes ago. No lie, I have been on facebook, realized there was nothing new to see, and then typed facebook.com into my address bar while I was still on my newsfeed in the first place!

So when I came across an article on unplugging at one of my favorite blogs, A Practical Wedding, I was intrigued.* I did give up facebook for Lent one year in college, which was an interesting experience. I have a hard time giving up facebook altogether now, because even though a lot of what is on there is nonsense, I do legitimately communicate with family and share pictures through it. So it's not all bad, but the amount of time I am on facebook is definitely bad. I don't like the fact that I waste hours on the internet mindlessly, but it's a hard habit to break. I learned that I am far from the only one who feels this way, and that while there are wondrous things the internet can do, unplugging can do wondrous things for you as well. 

Alexander Nazaryan described his Internet usage in a way I can definitely relate to: “I don’t want to call it addiction, to trivialize the suffering of alcoholics and compulsive gamblers. It is more like reliance, a psychological craving that will only be satisfied by the calming swipes of my finger across the smooth, shimmering screen of a device." Yes, my current websurfing is mostly out of boredom as I'm on vacation, but when I am checking facebook every 5 minutes after school despite having a ridiculously long and super stressful to do list? That is exactly why (although he described it in a much lovelier way than I could). 

So what's a person to do? I can't, at this point, bring myself to entirely give up the internet and ipad games every weekend altogether, the way Meg is doing over at APW. However, I am trying to be more intentional about taking time away from the computer. We gave up internet and cell phones during our cruise for 10 days out of necessity and that was wonderful. When we went back home for a very short weekend trip yesterday I left my ipad at home and didn't worry about checking facebook in between seeing friends and family. I'm taking time out to read books instead of mindlessly read my facebook feed (for some reason this is much easier to do on summer vacation than during the school year). I'm trying to actually cook some of the new recipes I'm finding online instead of just admiring them on pinterest. And when I feel like I just need some sort of 'noise', I put pandora radio on my ipad instead of playing a game or searching for a video on youtube and go do some organizing project or something productive around the house. I still spend a lot of time online and usually check facebook just under a gazillion times a day, but I'm learning, slowly, to try to make my internet time a little more intentional and a little less mindless. 

* [Sidebar: You may be asking yourself, why does Sarah still read this wedding blog when she got married 2.5 years ago? or, why does a wedding blog have a fascinating article about unplugging? I'll tell you why. This blog is not just about making favors no one cares about and giving you frighteningly unrealistic budget templates *cough*like theknot.com*cough*. This blog, while it does talk a lot about sensible and practical wedding planning advice, is also about marriage, life, and starting a business. They even talk about divorce. It is also written by a fabulously sassy, independent, smart, witty feminist and is one of the only places on the internet where I can click on the comments and actually get a thoughtful, caring, considerate, smart conversation with various viewpoints and advice. Okay, end sidebar.]