Declare an "Offline" day!

Declare an "Offline Day"

The Internet is a wonderful tool.  It connects us in ways we have never been connected.  That is something nobody can deny.  But the strange effect of this sort of inter-connectivity, is that while we've gained a connection to one another closer than ever in human history, a connection with people halfway around the world or even in outer space if that's where they happen to be, we've lost our connection with the people who are closest to us!

I realized this the other day when I had a full conversation with my cousin who resides in the same house as I, both of us in a basement with no doors on any room (Blankets are great for privacy, but don't do much to soundproof a room! :) Instead of getting up to go talk, I IM'ed her.  For a half hour we conversed this way and I finally said "F*&# THIS!" when the conversation got to the point where I tried to start a Skype conversation with her.  I yelled to her "Never mind... this is stupid!" at a volume that was not incredibly loud.

It hit me.  When I am IMing somebody who can hear me when I cough, there is something wrong with the situation!

So I've decided, I'm going to declare 1 day per week as my "Offline Day", I'm thinking Sunday's since it is such a natural day of rest but it really does not matter which day.  

I'm not going to be ridiculous about it.  If I need directions from Google Maps, or a phone number or to pay a bill or some other utility purpose of the internet, I'm not going to deny myself the usefulness that the internet provides.  But I am going to say no to Facebook, IM, Twitter (I cringed when I wrote that... This is not going to be easy...) and other social networking platforms.  Instead, I'm going to make plans.  If people want to talk to me, they can at a minimum revert to the ever impersonal phone call, but I would much rather something along the lines of meeting at a coffee shop or going to a movie... or going fishing... or quiet meditation where neither of us says a word... 

The point is togetherness, a chance to feel the vibrational energy that flows between us whenever 2 human beings do something at the same time and in the same place.  Heck, even a phone call means we are sharing conversation that is quite obvious if one stops paying attention.  It's a shared experience where both people need to be involved if it is going to work.  IM allows me to get up and make a sandwich and continue the conversation 20 minutes later, and I feel we lose something there!

I'll be the first to admit, I'm going to cheat... but its the intentional resistance that I feel will begin to make a difference.  Maybe I'll only have an "Offline Hour" or two, but the point is that I am reaching out intentionally for a connection that allows me to remain Human.  That is important to me!