So I've been on about a ten-day social media cleanse. I drove home from Chicago two Sundays ago after BlogHer '13 with my sister. I was home just long enough to unpack, repack, pet Kizzy and kiss Beloved before the little angel and I drove up to Iowa last Monday to stay with my parents for four days, just basically hanging out with family, reading, writing and not working.
We took shelter from a raging monsoon in St. Joseph and bought the little angel her first adult-sized pair of cowgirl boots.
We helped Blondie bestow extra BlogHer swag on our parents, who can't say no to a free coffee cup.
I went jogging in two different places on two consecutive days, and y'all, I ran wind sprints on my high school track, which is something I could not do in high school. I was so fucking proud of myself, yes, I was.
The little angel and I went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.
She got some slippers shaped like flamingos, because really, why not?
My parents took the girl to see a dinosaur named Sue, and I spent three hours working on PARKER CLEAVES. We had aunts, uncles and cousins over for ice cream.
We drove back down to Kansas City on Thursday. We saw cousins and my uncle on my mom's side. My parents came with us and stayed Thursday and Friday nights. We made popcorn after dinner.
On Saturday after my parents left, we tried to go geocaching and got all full of bugs, so we ended up at the swimming pool instead. On Sunday, we went to the Kansas City Toy & Miniature Museum while it rained outside. The little angel and I watched The Great Outdoors AND Summer Rental and wished we could vacation with John Candy. I told her all about the eighties.
Today, I came back to work, remembering clearly what life was like before the Internet.
It wasn't a total cleanse, because I did look at the mentions column of Tweetdeck and responded to anyone who talked to me. I hate leaving people hanging. And I checked my work and personal email a few times to delete spam and just keep things organized so today's re-entry wouldn't be too painful. And then I actually worked for a few hours last night, again in the interest of minimizing re-entry pain.
Since I still used Google every 1.5 nanoseconds during my cleanse, I can tell you for sure I'm completely unable to delay information gratification anymore. If I don't know an answer, I get very agitated if I can't just look it up. But as much as I enjoy the social media part of the Internet while I'm working, I didn't miss it while I was away. I love all my friends, but I wasn't worried they would forget who I was or anything if I wasn't around for a few days. I didn't feel that lonely why is there no one to talk to weirdness I sometimes feel if I'm away from Twitter during the work day -- please tell me I'm not the only person who has ever felt like that?
I am coming to the conclusion it's vital for my continued forward motion to slam the lid on the laptop and use the phone as a phone for a few days every quarter or so. I can feel the beeping and zipping and zapping start to get to me at about the ninety-day mark. I'm really glad I stepped away for a little bit, especially right after the emotional and intellectual disco ball that is a BlogHer conference. I feel more equipped to deal now, at least for another ninety days or so.
The Internet is a tool, not a life, right?