When I’m in Taos for just a few days (like now), I don’t turn on Internet access at my house and instead get wireless at my favorite café. Since I’d answered e-mail at the airport on Friday (Denver and Albuquerque both have free Wi-Fi), I decided to skip checking e-mail on Saturday. I opted instead for a relaxed breakfast (egg, bean, and home fries burrito smothered in green chili), then ran a couple errands. The rest of my day was equally mellow, though I got in some studying, a nap, a few hours of writing, and a long dinner with friends.
Sunday was about the same. The day unfurled without any sense of urgency, yet I managed to get a good chunk of work done. (In my case that meant writing, studying, and grading papers.) And again, no Internet, no e-mail. I didn’t miss it.
It struck me that despite doing so much work it felt like a real weekend, not just a two-day extension of the Monday to Friday frenzy. Is it simply because I stayed offline? (I don’t think I can give Taos the credit, because aside from the burrito, I could have had the same experience in New York.)
Since I love an experiment, I’m going to try it again this weekend. I’ll stay entirely offline for two whole days and skip writing emails, reading blogs, and checking the news, and focus on the important stuff, like writing and studying and maybe even going out for a long, leisurely breakfast.
I know. The nice men in the white coats will be here any minute.
Seriously, it’s an exciting idea, don’t you think?
Monday, October 26, 2009
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5 comments:
It is. And I am with you. Not this weekend or the next or the next, but the one after that for sure.
Sheesh. The "convenience" of the interwebs is exhausting.
Glad you had a pleasant weekend.
Barb
I'm with you deonne. it's always good to rest your brain from the internet frenzy.
Couldn't agree more. Where as I love my access, and I have loved my T-Zones for many years, and especially the ability to include in my web of friends brainy types like all of y'all. It's great to get away from friends and circle in and around the pampering of getting oneself centered again.
Whatever happened to clay is the way, isn't that all about centering.
There must be a lot of clay in Taos.
Sincerely,
me
Hope you're having a great time in Taos (how could you not?) and getting some serious relaxation time. I'm all for dispensing with technology every now and then!
Beth
I'm back in New York, zipping through piled up e-mails and blog posts. It's amazing how few I actually need to read, which bodes well for the weekend Internet moratorium. I'll do both days this time, but if that proves too painful (I'm weak, I admit it), I do think a Sunday no-Internet zone is easily doable and even necessary.
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