I went away for a few days last week, and disaster struck. I had forgotten the charger to my computer, the one I blog on. I don’t know when the last time any of you had to purchase a spare charger was, but lemme tell ya, it’s not easy to do. Oh sure, super easy if you like going to malls, or large office supply stores, but I avoid those places. I got a bit uneasy there for a bit, because my mornings always begin with a couple of hours on the computer, mostly blogging on Hive.
I couldn’t write a freewrite for the daily prompt, I couldn’t enter any challenges, contests or concepts. I knew there were rewards to claim that were sitting there unclaimed and not providing me with the (mere pittance of) interest they could be making. I knew my upvote value was at 100% and not earning me the (mere pittance of) rewards it could be earning had I been able to use it.
Sure, the walk to the nearby patisserie was lovely. My dog and I would arrive back at my comfortable Airbnb with a fabulous pastry and a cup of delicious coffee, but what then? Sit and stare out the window while I ate breakfast? That’s prime blog-reading time for me, and I was at a loss as to what to do.
On went the TV. Off went my brain. That satisfied me for as long as it took to suck down a cup of java and an almond croissant. Then I wanted more.
I started reading. That’s right, the old fashioned occupation we all used to do, and not that long ago either. I remembered the days when I would read for hours on end, in a chair, on a porch, with my feet in a lake, or sometimes at the breakfast table. A book or magazine open before me, time stretching out, a whole new world in my hands.
I am a big proponent of taking at least a few hours a day off from being wired to an electronic device. I already do not use my phone for anything other than calls or texts and rarely take it outside of the house. I pride myself on being less wired than most.
Having to take five days off from blogging put the lie to my hubris. I was lost without Hive.
OK that’s a bit exaggerated. I knew I would survive, and curious as to what I would become if I didn’t have my Hive world to reflect myself in. I was lost without my mirror, and had to see myself from within.
At first, I couldn’t stop thinking “what will I post next?” or “gee I wish I had my phone so I could take a picture of that for a post” or fretting about whether or not the day’s post had tickled anyone’s fancies.
I realized just how much my thoughts go to this place and I decided to try to make a temporary but clean break from Hive.
It took a couple of days for my yearnings for Hive to wear off. I filled the time I would usually do what I am doing right now with sitting and staring off into space, or going for walks.
A new world opened up to me. I saw things to wonder about every way I looked. Everything from the sky to a crack in a sidewalk inspired poetry. I fell in love with small things. I breathed deeply. I was certain my new outlook had to do with not being wired to any electronic devices. I had astonishing thoughts! Deep! Joyful! Determined! Clear as an acid trip! Glorious!
And, of course, I couldn’t help thinking “when I get my computer back, I’m going to write all these thoughts down and post about them.”
Which did not happen, because as soon as I was able to sit down at my computer again, five days hive-sober, I couldn’t remember a single one of those deep thoughts. It is as if being inside, sitting at a device, with other devices all around me, deadens my mind. Instead of buzzing bees, I hear the buzzes, dings, hisses and drones of tinnitus. Instead of enjoying wafts of plant and earth fragrances, I smell the stench of a carpet that could do with some cleaning. Instead of exchanging pleasantries with neighbors and walkers-by, I am sitting here trying to impress some of you with my brilliance.
I appreciate my time here. Hive is a true home away from home, and has been for five years now – my five year anniversary came and went while I was on my Hive Hiatus. We are a community, an international community, where I learn from others and hopefully entertain a few of you with my posts. But if I want to access the best of me, to live my best life, I have to be un-wired for a great deal of time every single day.
The moral of this story is, get outside more! Put down your phones and walk away from them! Be with other humans in the flesh!
And make sure you have time to just be with yourself.
the thumbnail image is mine