These past three internet-less days have been eye-opening. I can't say it enough times: "you don't know what you've got till it's gone!"
At first, I just kind of rotted. If I wanted to go somewhere for the day, I couldn't check the weather. If I wanted to bake something, I couldn't look a recipe up. If I had a song stuck in my head, I couldn't listen to it on Youtube. If I wanted pizza, I couldn't order online, or even look up domino's phone number. If I wanted to go to the library, I couldn't find the opening and closing times. Whenever I found something to do, I came to a roadblock.
Just then I realized how much time we spend on the computer, or in front of a screen. When I just moved here, my first observation was that the streets were lonely. Back east, the parks and sidewalks would be swarming with kids running, rollerblading, biking, scootering, skateboarding, you name it. Here, it's just emptiness. A car drives past. If you're lucky, a person might walk their dog by you. But meanwhile, they would be tapping away in front of their iTouches, or clicking buttons on their cell phones.
After the grim realization sank in, I reconnected with things I haven't seriously done in a long time. I laid in bed and read heaps of National Geographics. I sat in my backyard and painted a picture. I talked to friends face to face instead of over AIM, Facebook, or Gmail. It was almost... peaceful. Without a trillion things to do, we lose the need to rush. And when we don't rush, we start to actually breathe.
Although my internet's back (obviouslyyy), I'm determined not to let my lesson go to waste. Appreciate the internet for everything it lets us do, but don't use it as a substitute for really living life.
Zen by Liek
