Reflections of a Fast Past

I did another media fast yesterday, and used the time gained in not indulging in the various media in my life to do some prayer and reflection. I believe I learned a few things:

• I am as more comfortable with the idea of reflection than with the actual implementation of it. This bothers me, but as I am reflective I seem to want to engage in doing something else, as if reflection isn't doing enough. I had not focused on that last week. So it is a new thought. But since I am not all that comfortable spending a lot of time in reflection, I wonder if I will ever get around to understanding that better.
  
• I am less concerned with what is going on around me than I thought I would be. I sensed this last week, but it hit me stronger this time around. When I am not plugged into things, I really do not miss them as much as I thought I would. It seems it is not the urgency of the media that draws me, but its availability.
  
• The volume of information built up during the fast has a direct impact on how much time I will spend processing each individual item. Seeing what came in yesterday gives me the feeling that few items will get the same level of intensity from me than if I had seen them on a more current basis. I apologize to all who wrote these items, but apparently I am a prime candidate for information overload and may be no more than 24 to 72 hours away from it at any given time. How thin the veneer of a virtual life.
  

I will do this again next Wednesday to fulfill the commitment I made to myself. I think I am less inclined to do this on a regular basis than I was a week ago. But unlike the major television networks, I will not declare a winner until all the polls close and results are reported form all precincts.

Another Day of Fasting

Tomorrow I will be off the internet all day in my second Wednesday media fast. To support that I offer up the following. Click on it and flip the switch.

Click here.

Atrophy of the Mind

A few days ago I took my theology mid-term (fair but thorough) and I was most surprised about one thing. By the time I finished, my hand was cramping from all the writing. I never write anything of any length by hand anymore, it was a revelation, albeit an uncomfortable one.

I guess I need to guard against similar atrophy in another major muscle, my mind. If the extended use of my laptop has impacted how easily I can use my hand to do a simple function like writing, what is it doing to my mind?

I will need to guard against brain drain by insuring intellectually stimulating fare is the main diet I ingest on the internet. I believe my seminary studies will help keep me sharp by honing my thinking processes over the next few years, but is it harder than it would have been if I had not become a budding internet junkie over the past few years?

If nothing else, this affirms my decision to do a media fast last Wednesday, and to continue it over the next few weeks. It is making me think I need a more permanent program, but I may switch it to the weekend after I complete the three week commitment I made to Wednesdays. More thought on this is required on my part.

Which is probably a good start to a program of exercising my mind.