In my own little world

Due to work schedules and money issues and a few other smaller factors, Anthony and I have been out of circulation lately.  No socializing, no fun outings, just dealing with the basics. 

This hermit-like existence doesn't come naturally to me, and after a few weeks of it, I start going stir crazy.  Traveling only the stretch of road between my job and home day after day gets old.  I want to have conversations that don't involve bank accounts or grocery lists.  I'm not cut out for a life of pure domesticity.

But this is what we're dealing with right now, so I've been trying to make the best of it--cooking some good meals, catching up on reading, and so forth.  Focusing on this stuff while I have fewer outside distractions seems like a good thing.

I keep reading about people who take a digital sabbatical and unplug for a week or even a month.  While that seems drastic to me, I realized I could better focus on, and appreciate, the simple pleasures that are in my life right now if I could spend less time online.  Check Facebook only a couple of times a day.  Ignore my Google Reader for a while.  Check email a few times a week instead of a few times a day.

Yeah, so that didn't work so well, because today I found out I had missed an email telling me about a death in the family.  So now I feel like a self-absorbed loser.  I thought not checking email would keep me from feeling bad about all the announcements of fun events I couldn't attend anyway, and the requests for donations I can't afford to make right now, not to mention all the spam and newsletters I usually delete immediately.  But now I feel bad in a different way, and disconnecting doesn't seem like a helpful way to focus, it just seems like a way to isolate myself even further. 

Blerg.

Comments

[Stacy]

Thank you, Gaidig. You're right--lesson learned!

[Stacy]

Thanks, Scott! It was great to see you, too. Hoping to get back into circulation a bit more this summer.

[Gaidig]

Big hugs, and my condolences.

Personally, I agree that online life can get in the way of real life. I should be outside right now! Just take it a lesson that e-mail is like voice mail - a check daily activity.

[Scott Roberts]

Seeing all that you shared in this post makes having the chance to run into you and Anthony on Friday at Anna's book release party even more special. So glad you were there and I got to see you both again. You're good people! Hope things normalise soon, Stacy : ).