Web-Addicted Boomer Goes Offline for One Day and Lives
Like all baby boomers, I grew up in the days of carbon paper and white-out. So it’s funny to find myself, at this age, more or less addicted to the Internet. I spend way too many hours online. Maybe you do, too.
How many is too many?
It’s too many if you have a hard time breaking eye-lock from the small screen long enough to pay attention to the people you love and/or live with, if you’re late to everything, and if your to-do list chronically goes unfinished. I am guilty of all this and more.
I love the Internet. It’s so much a part of my life, for information and community. I wouldn’t truly say I’m addicted, but I am habituated. I’m on two computers and a smartphone all day long, checking email or social media, handling little tasks or answering a million questions. Like:
when is Jersey Boys going to be at my local theater?
where is my new doctor’s office?
how hot is it going to be today?
can Elon Musk invent a way to stop wasting flared gas? (I tweeted him)
must compliment my local paper on new Home section
must share this/that/the other article with my networks
must entertain resulting comments from said sharing
how many tablespoons in 1/4 cup?
how long have the Sunnis and Shi’ites been fighting?
ideas for new blog posts!
must order that from Amazon
must see what Goodreads friends say about this book
etc. blah blah blah
Once in pursuit of the above, I fall down the rabbit hole, chasing other pretty stuff. Although it’s fun, the time expands as I read one thing after another, commenting and/or sharing, and hurrying, always hurrying. Because I’m aware of time slipping away, I’m anxious to get off the computer and go do what I do in real life. (Sound familiar?)
But that’s the problem. This is real life. Used to be we would separate Online Life from Real Life, but no more. Online is our Barbershop, our Cheers. We all know each others’ names.
As enjoyable as it is, I really need to work on my next novel (and pay some attention to my sweet hubby), so on Sunday, I decided to stay offline and see how it felt. To prepare for this foray into unknown territory, I made a list of offline things I could do. I’m so unused to going natural that I wasn’t sure I would know how to act.
So, that was last weekend. How did it go?
Fantastic! I worked on the yard; organized a bunch of recipes; read in a leisurely way; sat on the patio and listened to birdsong; with my darling honeybun, watched Michelle Wie finally win a major; meditated; and wrote in my journal (with fountain pen, in cursive, on paper).
The main difference between a regular online day and Sunday – the Lord’s Day, the day of rest – was that I did feel more rested, grateful, present, and in control of my time. Reading was especially rich, being able to savor the meaning and depth of the writing, whether fiction or non-. I liked it very much, and felt more at peace. Strangely, time seemed to expand and last longer, but I was never bored.
It was beautiful. I’m thinking of making it a twice-a-week thing, at least.
Do you ever feel like you’re online too much?
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The Internet sucks me in! I hate sitting at the desktop computer but hate unhitching the lap-top from my desk even more. Thus, I sit at the computer until I'm ready to scream, then I walk away. And after a while I come back. I like the idea of two days off a week and will try that. I have SO MANY other things I want to do, most of which you listed in your "What I did when I wasn't DOING the Internet." Thanks for the nudge. (My husband is such an Internet junkie that he actually has carpal butt! That's my name for it, but it is a condition that's recognized these days and completely a result of SITTING TOO LONG. He says he's trying to read the Internet and have done with it, once and for all! Ha.)
There is just so much on it! You can't do anything for a full hour without wanting to go back and check, buy, inquire, connect, ask, etc. But that Sunday was rich, man. Going to do it again this coming weekend.
