unplugged

Last fall I sold just about everything I owned at the town yard sale. Whatever remained was donated to Goodwill, along with several bags of clothes. My rule for discarding clothes went as follows...if I haven’t worn it in the past year, it goes.

Now, I feel confident in saying that everything that I own (with the exception of my dresser and bed) could fit into my car. While that wasn’t necessarily my goal, the act of downsizing was a liberating experience.

I aim to live a simple life. One component of this involves “unplugging” myself from technology whenever/as much as possible. My cell phone is from 2005 and it doesn’t have apps, internet, email or GPS, but I can call you and at the end of the month, my bill is only $55. I lived most of my adult life without cable television. In fact, I couldn’t tell you the last time I turned it on. I don’t use GPS in my car. If I’m going some place new, I write down the directions. And, I challenge myself to take a digital sabbatical (http://rowdykittens.com/2010/07/digital-sabbatical/) at least once a week.

On Friday afternoon I went to get my oil changed. There were four other customers in the waiting area with me. One lady was texting, one guy was talking on his phone, the other two men were using the internet on their phones...and then there was me, taking it all in.

I thought about what this scenario would be like prior to the invention of these devices. Would we all just sit around and stare at each other? Would we (gasp) actually have a conversation with each other? Would we have brought our own reading materials and proceeded to ignore each other as we do when we’re using our phones?

It’s just something to think about. People seem to be so connected to technology. If there is a free second, it’s consumed by that device in the palm of your hand. Connected to the internet...connected to email...connected to text...connected to the person on the other end of the line...disconnected from all that is around them at the present moment.

Personally, I view these experiences as opportunities to connect with the world around me. Maybe that is the reason why I am writing about the things I noticed while I sat alone, waiting for my oil to be changed and they just kept their heads down.