To Unplug or Not To Unplug

Sundown today begins the third National Day of Unplugging. The idea is to step away from the electronics for 24 hours and connect to people face-to-face or to maybe go outside instead of staring at a screen.

While I think it's a great idea, in theory, I don't think it's going to do a bit of good with the exact group it attempts to target. Like many campaigns, it's probably preaching to the choir of people who already think it's healthy to spend less time with electronics. The real tech-addicts are never going to even give it a fleeting thought.

I don't think I could stay away from electronics for 24 hours. Sure, I can read a paper book or write with pen and paper at my desk or even on a park bench watching people feed ducks at the lake. But I can't work on the edits my publisher is waiting for without printing a 300-pg ms and red-penning. I don't want to kill a tree to save an electron.

What I do agree with is that we should all be more mindful of options to using technology exclusively. One weekend instead of emailing I called people up on the phone. It was a wonderful change to just have a short chat with each person. I felt very connected and enjoyed hearing their voices and their laughter. "LOL" will never take the place of a genuine laugh.

I'll admit, that even face-to-face we can be too reliant on our screens. I had two friends visiting recently. We'd spent all day running around San Francisco, then as soon as we got home, all three of us grabbed our respective laptops and immediately began checking emails. We sat in silence (if you ignore the tapping keyboards) not three feet away from each other, completely immersed in our own worlds and ignoring each other.

So, instead of unplugging for 24 hours straight, how about taking an hour or two once a week to connect to the world without a keyboard? No withdrawal required, but you will probably be very glad you did.