Thursday, April 30, 2009

techno meltdown

In the past month, the following have been lost or broken:

my computer
my ipod
my radio
my alarm clock
my cell phone
my dvd player
my camera's memory card

I am taking this as a bit of a sign that I need to disconnect! I hope to make it through the summer as an analog homeschool mom, and spend some time thinking and praying about what role, if any, all of this technology should play in my life, and the life of my children.

I have seen benefits (no temptation to check email) and also downsides (no pictures of first haircut, no google maps for directions).

I do know one thing, though, if I am going to make a major investment in technology all at once I am going to make sure that it is integrated.

A really sweet laptop could replace almost all of the above devices, since our TV just happens to have a computer port.

Running without music has been interesting, I have started to enjoy it now that the weather is nice, but it is hard to get out on gray days with no music. I have also stopped using my husband's fancy watch, so I don't know my pace or splits of any kind, I just go for a run around the neighborhood and come home when I feel tired. This is not a good training plan long term, but for keep me moving post-race it seems to be working just fine.

So, if you don't hear from me for a while, we are all okay, we've just taken a field trip to the 80's!

6 comments:

JesusThroughMary said...

I like it. I think addiction to technology is a major problem with our generation and younger. Everyone should step out of the techno bubble once in a while, just to remember what it was like to actually have to engage in human interaction in order to make the world run.

Gail said...

My cell phone broke last fall and I had such trouble trying to get it fixed/replaced that I just decided to give it up altogether. The salesperson was incredulous that a mother with three young children could live without a cell phone (as is my own mother) which is just hilarious to me. It was a little hard to get used to, but I've come to really like not having one, especially at Mass when I don't have to try to remember to turn it off before hand!

B-Mama said...

Someday we hope to send our sons to an all-boy camp in Maine (where my husband attended as a boy) that requires no technology for all campers. That means 7 weeks without all the technological temptations of the world and lots of dirt, trees, camping, and arts and crafts. Nothing could be better, in my opinion. I'm so intrigued, I may head up there as a counselor!!

AWOL Mommy said...

Don't leave us, Mary Alice.... no No nooooo nooooo. Come baaaack.

Right Said Red said...

As a money issue, our computer does do all of these things (with the exception of "cell phone")--although it is not in our bedroom, so the alarm clock thing wouldn't work well.

I know a number of people who gave up the computer for lent. It was great for them, and difficult for those running an organization (ahem, me!) when I needed to contact them regarding changes to a meeting,etc. One friend who made this sacrifice was kind enough to start a phone chain and let the others know about meeting changes, announcements, etc (yet she seemed to be the only one who thought about how her mortification would effect others). It all worked out fine, we just had to think back to how things were done in the past. And I was usually the one who had to make extra phone calls--not them, so I had to pray for some grace on this one!

We live in a techno savy world, and like most things, it is a matter of striking a balance. When the computer and all these pieces of technology are actually adding obligations to our life, rather than making things easier, it is important to do what you are doing MaryAlice, and reevaluate their role in our life! Something like an alarm clock, for instance, seems pretty important, while an ipod clearly seems a luxury. The computer, camera, and cell phone seem to fall somewhere in-between.

Didn't you successfully withdraw from the computer and TV while living in NYC? I thought I remember receiving an automatic message from you that stated you were not doing e-mail or TV, and that we all should try it too! :-)
Maybe your soul just needs to totally withdraw every so often to re-center and get a good routine going.

Just my rambling thoughts...

Juris Mater said...

I like how you said it, Red... I think it's a great plan to take time off from technology from time to time, to discern its proper place in our days. I usually end up concluding that I need to not use the Internet as a crutch for moments of loneliness, overwhelmedness, anxiety, but that it's best to restrict it to scheduled times, for limited periods of time. That provides a little reasonable detachment, and it's always adequate for what I need to accomplish online.