Blog of Wade Making Connexions

It’s Not You, It’s Me. Really.

Since getting back from living a monastic life early this year, I’ve felt hyper connected. I don’t own a TV, I don’t watch movies, so when I’m at home I’m either reading, or more than likely, on the internet. I like to reason that when I’m online I’m blogging, or doing something blog related, but more often, I’m just Internetting[1].

I’m now finding this Internetting a border line addiction. There’s simply too much. I find myself always with something to learn, with someone to talk to, and with something going on. Up until last week, I’d never let my RSS feeds slip, not even for a night.

Up until a month ago, I used to read my e-mail before eating breakfast, before even getting dressed. I’ve drawn small lines in the sand, but it’s still not enough. I need to get offline more.

Someone I was talking to on the weekend spoke about how we change when we go on Holidays. That when we are ‘in’ the system, we find it very hard to change, there’s many (social) structures in place that keep us the way we are right now. It’s in this spirit of change, and learning that I feel the need to get offline.

Doing some reading today I happened upon an Essay by Paul Graham on Disconnecting Distraction

It took me surprisingly long to realize how distracting the Internet had become, because the problem was intermittent. I ignored it the way you let yourself ignore a bug that only appears intermittently. When I was in the middle of a project, distractions weren’t really a problem. It was when I’d finished one project and was deciding what to do next that they always bit me.

Another reason it was hard to notice the danger of this new type of distraction was that social customs hadn’t yet caught up with it. If I’d spent a whole morning sitting on a sofa watching TV, I’d have noticed very quickly. That’s a known danger sign, like drinking alone. But using the Internet still looked and felt a lot like work.

So, I’m going offline at least a day a week. Starting tonight. I still love you Internet, I hope this will make us even better. eHugs.

[1]‘Surfing the web’ is so ’90s. Internetting has a double t. Just go with it.

I’m totally the same. I spend far to long on this Interconnected Network. Reading your blog has given me inspiration to do the same.
But I’ll start tomorrow!!!!

ARGHH…

Adam

Since your still online Wade~ check-out http://www.do-not-zzz.com
Worth a visit, an interactive site, some action required to move from page to page!

Enjoy~Especially when the fly lands on the monks head.

ttyl
gessho

@Adam, Great to know you found my post inspiring. I’ve been keeping to offline once a week, it’s a great start If you’ve not started, take the plunge!

@Terry, I’ll be updating BoW VERY Soon. I’ve had a post written for around 2 weeks, but have been sick. Thanks for the link, it’s enjoyable Gassho, Wade

Peace,

Wade