Television, E-mail, Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, texting, the radio, iTunes, movies, Snapchat, blogs, news, advertisements, forums...
Guys, it's media month. And it starts tomorrow.
I am so dragging my feet on this one. I have this attitude of "This is going to S.T.I.N.K." and I need to stop it. My focus needs to shift from how much I'm going to miss social media and onto how much more I'll be able to learn new things, really talk with people, and hear from God. There is going to be an amazing, growing, freeing side of this month. For the first few weeks it will likely be overshadowed by the void created by eliminating some of the biggest distractions I dabble in on a moment-by-moment basis. Who knows... it might even take an extension of this month's challenge to see some real, lasting fruit. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. :)
For now, I'm going to spend this afternoon saying good-bye to my 'friends' on Facebook (of whom I really only see a minute percentage...), delete apps (because if they're there I WILL click into them before I realize what I'm doing...), and listen to all the music I can stand. And I'm describing what this month will look like so you know what it's about and I can come back and remind myself what it's about.
My parents were always fairly strict when it came to media usage. I remember being limited to 30 minutes of screen time of any kind on a daily basis and some periods of only using electronics on the weekends. It fluctuated sometimes, but in general we didn't use it a lot. I didn't have a Facebook profile until I was eighteen and until then my computer time was generally used to write stories for my own enjoyment. With all that in consideration I step back and see how much I have been ensnared in the small space of 5 years.
I check Facebook multiple times a day... not out of duty but out of boredom. I Snapchat almost daily and Instagram as much, sometimes for the same reason but sometimes out of a need to share my world with people across the country. The television is on every day for several hours, sometimes being actively watched and sometimes just creating background noise. If I don't know something, Google is a ready and available resource without which it seems I can no longer live. How in the world did I find the nearest Sonic without you, smart phone and 3G?!
The results of this constant stimulation is described in the corresponding chapter in "7". It literally changes the way our minds work; we're restless, can't focus, and jump at the chance to change our trajectory when our phone dings with a notification. Besides this negative affect I see hints of another issue... the need for approval and affirmation from people I don't even really know. How am I going to make it an entire month with out a single 'like', 'share', or 'comment'? Where will I get my confidence when I can't even 'post' that witty one-liner I came up with all on my own? My already innate struggle with fear of man is fed by my ability to foster cheers from 744 people on an online profile whose knowledge of me, my personality, and my beliefs is 90% or more based only on what I post. More on both of those, I'm sure, in future posts.
But this month the status quo will be challenged. I am eliminating or severely minimizing 7 forms of media.
- Television
This will be entirely eliminated when I'm home alone, and avoided when Josh is home with me. He may still watch in the evenings, but unless I'm intentionally spending time with him in front of it I will spend that time either in another room working on something, reading, or outside.
- Internet
No browsing news pages, blogs, or recipe sights. I have newspapers, books, and cookbooks to keep me informed, enlightened, and fed well. I can access the internet to use my maps app when I'm out and about and as we continue to research adoption I will need to use it to learn what I need to learn.
-Social Media
All of it. Period. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, Snapchat... Every app will be deleted tonight. The only posts my friends will see will be from external sources, either my Bible app or from this blog. And I will have no idea what they think of those posts.
- Radio
Really, that should read 'Music', because it's all going. No Pandora, no Air1, no iTunes. I will be driving in silence, exercising in silence, and cleaning in silence.
- Texting
All chit-chat texts will be eliminated... this is a business only month. If I want to chat I can call.
- Email
This is necessary at this time of year... I'm coordinating a campaign project and need to contact several people at once. But I'm checking it only once a day instead of every few hours. Nothing communicated by email is that important.
- Gaming
At first this seems like a non-issue. Yes, I have a few games on my phone but it's literally been months since I last opened them. BUT... with Facebook going bye-bye I see the potential for games to become a fall back. So they're banned before they get started.
So pretty much going cold turkey here... It will be interesting to see how I change. Pray for me. :)
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