Welcome to a day in my life. I can't guarantee that this will be an exciting read for anyone. My life is filled with all the mundane activities of a stay-at-home-mom just trying to raise her three sons to be the best men they can be.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Feeling Challenged

A couple of weeks ago, I came across This Post during my blog surfing. Jodi has challenged everyone to take a day and unplug. Here's what she says:




Do you want to check your email before brushing your teeth in the morning? Do you live for getting comments on your blog? Do you twitter at least 5 times a day? How often do you update your facebook status? How many hours a day is your tv on? How close to you, at this moment, is your cell phone?

Think about it.How hard would it be for you to unplug for one entire day?
no tv.
no phone.
no computer.
no internet.

Just you. Your life and your camera.

Think you could do it?

Join us and unplug for ONE day in the month of May. Whatever day works best for you and your family. And then commit to it. No cheating. And document it. With photos or words or both.

Then share your day with us on your blog. June 1st. On June 1st we’ll all share our days, together,on our blogs and spread the word to UNPLUG. Because I think a little unplugging is just what we all need every once in a while. To give our creative selves a day off. To rejuvenate.To just live. To be. Just you. Your life. Your camera.

I've been thinking a lot about this ever since I read it. I spend way too much time plugged in. My family spends way too much time plugged in.

Then, yesterday I had Oprah on the TV. (I'm not a big fan of the Oprah show, but every once in a while something will catch my ear and I will have to watch.) The topic of her show yesterday was "What could you live without?" She challenged two separate families to unplug and go for a week without TV, computers, cell phones, and video games. The purpose was to spend more time together as a family reconnecting.

I was really feeling challenged.

I know that John and I are close to our boys and we spend more than the average amount of time with them doing stuff and just hanging out. We are all home bodies so we're together most of the time. Still, a lot our time in the house is spent doing our own things ... plugged in somewhere in the house.

So, at some point over the next week, I am going to unplug. I won't do it for a week, but I will do it for a day. I'm going to encourage my family to do it as well. A day will be easier to sell than a week so we'll see if they join me. The purpose won't be to spend time with my camera, but rather with my children and my husband. If the camera comes along, then so be it, LOL.

On the selected day, I will display the following to let you all know that I am unplugged.
Anyone else up for the challenge? What would you do with your time?


6 comments:

  1. This is a really great exercise to do. We practice this during our vacations - no electronics of any kind except when we are on travel days.
    This past March break we spent three days in the depths of the bush in the North West Territories where a couple of families live completely off the grid. Except for a few hours during the evening when the generator is fired up, these families are completely severed from the world of technology. It was a good experience for us as a family.
    When we lived in Toronto, we would have "pioneer nights" when all the lights of the house were turned off, no TV, we ate by candle light, played board games by candle light.
    Great fun.

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  2. An interesting concept...as it would mean going without AC, choosing the wrong day would bring one a sleepless night. Homes today are not designed to catch and channel the wind for cooling as they were a hundred years ago.

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  3. Hi, Barbara,

    I have been spending a little less time online. I wasn't going to go on this evening, but was so tired after the busy day. This doesn't take much energy.

    I really like the UNPLUG idea, though.

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  4. I've read about this challenge, and have thought about doing it myself. It would be an interesting experiment. You know it would mean no iTouch, right? I know how you love that thing! LOL Great idea. Have fun with it.

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  5. This is a great thing. We are going to unplug for a day...but we need the day off together first!
    I think we all get over loaded, I know I have not been spending as much time on the computer for months now. I was on it far too much.
    I would rather call a friend or visit with them these days, not just email.

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  6. What an interesting challenge... I'd love to say I could do it, but I can't imagine. My job and much of the volunteering I do has me sitting in front of the computer. If nothing else, I need to be on my email to print out agendas for meetings, pulling together lists of volunteers for school fundraisers, etc. I think this is a challenge I could do in the summer, once the kids are out of school and I get a two-month reprieve from my volunteer stints. :)

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