I spent this past weekend in Tennessee with my family on a much-needed getaway. We spent the day in Nashville on Friday, walking around the music district, eating lunch at an awesome place called The Pharmacy, and just enjoying the warm, sunny weather and kind southern hospitality.Friday night my wife and I had dinner at a brewery where a fantastic three-piece rock band featuring fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen-year-old boys, The Wacky Friday, entertained and impressed us.Saturday we visited Johnny Cash’s grave, and then drove to the Smoky Mountains, which has held a sentimental place in my heart since my wife and I got married there in 2004.We’ve been back a couple of times since then, and it was nice to see the places that have special meaning to us, and also to hit up a few new places. A friendly stoner-type waiter named Brent charmed my wife and me with wildly inappropriate jokes for which I easily could have had him fired if I were a jerk, and the jokes weren’t so damn funny.We learned that hiking six miles in the mountains is more difficult than hiking six miles on flat land, and we were reminded that there’s no better buy for a family of six than a hotel that serves a free breakfast.
I might write more about this past weekend in the next few days. The more I think about it, the more I have to say.But what struck me throughout the weekend, but specifically as we drove the final 350 miles non-stop from Lexington, Kentucky to my driveway, was how nice it was to stay away from e-mail and Facebook for those four days.I brought my work laptop with me, and I used it to do some writing late at night, after everyone else went to bed. I didn’t do any work, which meant a few problems lingered there until I returned, yet somehow the world didn’t end. I did send two e-mail messages during the weekend, but they were both to my wife, who was right next to me, so they don’t count.But I didn’t check my e-mail. I didn’t even login to Facebook during those four days. And it was great.We left home Friday morning. On Thursday night I decided that I’d had enough communication. No offense to you, my Dear Reader, but I just wasn’t in the mood to hear from anyone except for those in whose physical presence I found myself. And with one small exception, I managed to do just that: limit my communication to people I could smell.I highly recommend it.Although I only did it for four days, by the time I logged back in Tuesday morning, it felt like I’d been away for months. Facebook even sent me an e-mail telling me how many comments, notifications and such I’d received since I last logged in. It had a sort of pitiful “We miss you and really wish you would come see us” tone to it.I was amazed how easily I put Facebook and e-mail out of my mind just by deciding that I wasn’t going to login for a period of time. Most mornings begin with me checking one or the other, mostly out of habit. Many evenings end the same way.For what?Again, no offense to you my Dear Reader, but most of the stuff on Facebook isn’t very interesting. The chances of finding an e-mail worth reading are even smaller. But if most of the content doesn’t inspire, why do I even bother?I have no answer. I suppose it’s because that’s what I did yesterday. There’s something to be said for mixing things up though. Do something different. Make yourself uncomfortable. The world won’t end if you go a few days without Facebook or e-mail, and you might enjoy having extra minutes in your day since you’re not staring at a screen.I don’t have a cell phone, so it’s not as convenient for me to access the internet as it is for most people. I do that by design. The idea of becoming submissive to a phone makes me ill. I’d rather endure the rare inconvenience of being unreachable for a small period of time, than endure the suffocation I’m sure I’d experience if I had a phone attached to me at all times.If you’re feeling adventurous, get rid of your phone. But at the very least, trying ignoring Facebook and e-mail this weekend.You’ll be glad you did.PREVIOUS POST: Forgiveness and Its LimitsIF YOU LIKED THIS POST I BET YOU'LL ALSO LIKE: Why Maps are Better than GPS+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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