Technology-Free

via

I've always liked the part during airplane flights when the flight attendants say

to turn off everything with an "on/off switch."

I'm a technology addict [see: phone, cameras, cameras in phones, laptops, & everything within these products like the Internet, apps, so on and so forth] and the two or three or fifteen hours on a plane when I can shut myself out from all of that and just stare out the window at fluffy clouds, listen to some music, write and read magazines, and just get lost in my thoughts is time that I cherish.

Today, for a writing project, I turned off all technology for the whole day.

...

And it sucked.

I was so excited about getting to engage in real conversations and to sit in a sunny spot and journal. I was excited to take actual handwritten notes in class. I was ready to get up at the crack of dawn and go running without music or mile trackers, to have a meal without the distraction of constant buzzing, to read a book and rest my mind and all that.

It's not as great as it sounds.

I mean certainly, I enjoy time off from technology. I like going to a coffee shop and journaling and reading books and all that... but it's really different when you are actively restraining yourself from checking your e-mails. With the conscious knowledge that you can't do something... it's kind of awful. On an airplane, everyone has their electronics off. In everyday life, well, it's kind of just you because you had this bright idea to do so.

It's important to have quality "unplugged" time.

But not to the point of forcing yourself not to read blogs and watch a Youtube music video or click around Pinterest or having a hilarious emoticon conversation with a friend,

because sometimes those are the really good things in life too.