Unplug, Recharge

It was so the opposite of everything the world intends for us to do these days.

Unplug to recharge.

I deactivated my Facebook account for about a week. For the first 48 hours, I realized touching the icon on my phone was just a habit; in much the same way my brain is programmed to pick up my shampoo, facewash, conditioner, and bodywash in that order, I touched my email icon, my internet icon, and then my Facebook icon. It didn't even matter that I had deactivated it and knew it--I still touched it.

And then I stopped.

And it was bliss.

I didn't find myself missing or even thinking about what someone else's kid did at the pool that day, or what someone made for dinner, or whether or not someone should try the new sushi restaurant.

The mundane details of everyone else's life that social media provides became just that--mundane--and the beautiful thing was that I was able to submerge myself into my own.

I received emails from people that I hadn't heard from in awhile, wondering where I ran off to.

I just ran off to...me. My world. It seems a little selfish to say that, but that's what unplugging does. And isn't that where I should be anyway?

I took photos of my kids--because it was funny and I wanted to capture the moment--just for me. And I didn't share it with the world--just my husband, and of course Will, who has the patience of his mother and who demands to see any and all photos immediately after they are taken. On a side note, it just occurred to me that our children will never experience the anticipation of waiting three days to get photos back and ripping open the envelope in the car to see what they look like. They will forever be able to take the perfect photo and instantly transform it to make the lighting better and retake if someone blinked, or photobombed, or God forbid had whale arm. This would have made my box of college photos less painful to look through.

And then I plugged back in, just long enough to say hello, invite friends to my first yoga class back, and see what I missed in a week's time--gender reveals and weddings and new homes--all things I was unable to "like" and send best wishes for so...congratulations to all!

I also missed photos of kids at the pool, photos of dinners, and debates on whether or not friends should do this or that: sushi or italian? tacos or enchiladas? bangs or no bangs? pacifier or lovey? Paris or London? love it or list it? Oh wait--just a really awful, drawn out TV program on HGTV. And on another side note, next time you're perusing that channel, pay attention to the Valspar commercial; our bathroom has a starring role (and by "starring" I mean it's one of ten rooms that appear on your screen for about a blip).

Fact is, unplugging felt amazing.

I mean, the first command of this blog is to be present. How can we be fully present when we are submerged in moments that belong to other people, or concerned in how our own moments appear to others?

It felt so good I might just unplug for the rest of the summer.

As soon as I take full advantage of social networking and make a post with a link about how good it is to not post and read posts. You know, irony and all...

Could you do it? Have you done it? How'd you fair?