I’ve been enjoying a break from our routine life on Mitchell’s Island this week, visiting such varied places as Uki, inner city Brisbane, and Sunshine Beach, Queensland. I’ve also had downtime from sitting at my computer, and as a result had some insights.
Out of necessity from being on the road, I’ve begun disconnecting from some of the social media and blog sites that send me regular updates through my email.
I hear people say that they don’t have time to keep up with the plethora of information, advice, marketing and entertainment that shows up in their inbox. I understand that.
But time isn’t the real problem for me. It’s the feeling I’ve been getting that I’m losing myself in cyberness – in a virtual reality that is eroding the time and space I use for real experiences. You know… stuff like walking on the beach, cooking a meal, weeding garden beds, talking on the phone, making love, swimming, debating issues, playing parlour games, meditating, sharing a cuppa.
I don’t have to compromise on the above activities, but I find the Internet pulls on my attention, and without being conscious of it, I drift into a sort of mesmerising time warp.
I realise how ironic what I’m saying is in that I identify as a blogger and I’ve been doing it, mostly enjoyably, for years. I have an audience and I don’t want to lose any of you. But I don’t want to lose me either – the physical, substantial, practical me. The living breathing me for whom sitting at my computer can be an out-of-body experience.
Time to evaluate whether the time on my Mac and iPhone are worth the time out of friendships, family and nature.