31 October

Day of Rest. An idea that works

by Jon Katz

  I have always embraced technology, and still do, but I also understand that the manic connectedness spreading through American culture is not always health. E-mail, cell phones, texting, and social media connects people to work, family in friends around the clock, seven days a week. Yesterday Maria and I took a one-day sabbatical, something we are thinking of doing for one day every week. We didn’t check e-mail, answer cell phones, go on Facebook or Twitter. Maria doesn’t do too much of this anyway, but the nature of my work and life bring me into contact with more new media.
  We had a wonderful day off. We had dinner, took walks, read, slept late, talked, visited with friends. It was our own version of the Sabbath, a non-religious foray into a day of comtemplation – and connection – with people and our lives, rather than other people and theirs. I notice that many of the people I work with are abandoning personal contact – they use e-mail only. And they have the expectation that I will be online all of the time checking it. I love this blog, and the amazing opportunities the Internet offers for new kinds of communities, new ways to connect and get my story out. But we also loved a day off from it, and that requires thought, discipline and planning. It was a great idea. I’ll write more about it later.

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