When was the last time you went without checking your phone for more than just the time that you were asleep? Can you remember the last time you spent an entire day without your computer? Maybe not! It’s interesting to reflect on this for a moment.
I love my computer and phone, and could not imagine ever giving them up – I love the connection, the information…the movies 🙂
I also appreciate the times I spend without my beloved device friends, like when I’m on silent retreat. Whenever I take the time to do a retreat, I am perfectly fine without connection to the outer world because it’s that precious time I can take to connect more fully to myself.
Interesting thing about connecting to ourselves – Â when we do, we naturally connect more organically to others, with much more authenticity and kindness. When we disconnect the electric plugs, or anything that we’ve become reliant on, we reconnect more fully and attentively when we are back in our social worlds. Unplugging doesn’t have to be for days and days, but it’s healthy to put anything down for some time – freedom is not being attached to anything.
In this way, our unplugging or just putting a device away for a period of time purposefully re-unites us with our humanity so that we connect intimately with each other and the world. Compassion grows naturally from connection, and compassion as a verb holds action – it means we want to be involved with one another, help each other or take social action around something we see that wisely needs to be attended to.
Maybe you’ll join me in disconnecting sometime — Â our disconnecting together becomes community, especially when you invite someone else and so do I. Tremendous goodness can come from just that. Let’s see what we can do together.
I would have a very hard time unplugging, tghouh I have done it for a couple of days on occasion. I took the quiz and it labelled me as a Digital Collaborator: you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in your ability to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new. Not surprising, since I make my living on the Internet!