{"id":1933,"date":"2009-08-11T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2009-08-11T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondblue\/2009\/08\/s-i-l-e-n-c-e-im-unplugging-fo.html"},"modified":"2009-08-11T10:00:36","modified_gmt":"2009-08-11T10:00:36","slug":"s-i-l-e-n-c-e-im-unplugging-fo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2009\/08\/s-i-l-e-n-c-e-im-unplugging-fo.html","title":{"rendered":"S-I-L-E-N-C-E: I’m Unplugging for 19 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"s-VACATION-large.jpg\"<\/span>
\nLast August I unplugged for 19 days and I emerged a more resilient, more grounded person<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I’m going to do it again this August. Yep close to three weeks my laptop will be hidden in my closet–back behind the hiking boots I never wear–so that I won’t be tempted to “just check the weather” and in the process follow another 400 people on Twitter<\/a> and check out what folks are talking about on Facebook.<\/p>\n

I’m doing it because I’m grumpy. Agitated. Like I’ve had my period going on 40 days now.<\/p>\n

I’m getting mad at the dogs because they take too long to do their business in the backyard, at the kids for blasting that annoying Club Penguin tune, at Eric for talking to me when I’m wearing ear phones, at the baristas at the coffee shop for making too much noise when they make their espressos. In essence, I’m turning into a short-tempered bitch. And so I know it’s time to take a vacation from all this stimulation than can have me behaving like a non-neutered, non-potty-trained puppy of about 8 weeks old.<\/p>\n

Going cold turkey on the Internet for 19 days also provides me with the data I need to rest assured that I’m not addicted to email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the other 25 social-networking sites I visit. It’s the equivalent to the Lenten observation that I made for years … to give up drinking. That meant I wasn’t an alcoholic.<\/p>\n

I also learn things about myself when I shut out the noise for awhile. Like a silent retreat (with very loud kids), I hear the secrets hidden in my soul that I can’t catch until I’m perfectly still. Well, not perfectly still. Still enough … To know that getting perturbed with my mutts for not pooping in less than two minutes means we have a problem on our hands.<\/p>\n

However, because I’m still very OCD, I have written all of my posts for these 19 days and have them set up on the timer to keep you company while I am gone.<\/p>\n

I hope you can get some rest this August, too. Because down time is critical to recovery. <\/p>\n

Not desirable. <\/p>\n

Critical. <\/p>\n

And because I’m so bad at squeezing some in on a consistent basis, I have to hide out for a few weeks to seek some quiet.<\/p>\n

Wish me luck.<\/p>\n

And I will wish you the same!<\/p>\n

* Click here to <\/a>subscribe to Beyond Blue<\/a><\/b>!<\/a><\/i> And <\/i>c<\/i><\/a>lick here to follow Therese on Twitter<\/b><\/i><\/a>. And <\/i>click here to join Group Beyond Blue<\/b><\/i><\/a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last August I unplugged for 19 days and I emerged a more resilient, more grounded person.   So I’m going to do it again this August. 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