I have been wanting to try a little experiment around our house lately. Yesterday we finally started. Once a week in the evenings after work we are going for a no TV-Internet-phones-music environment. We could play the music ourselves, but no turning on the iPod or computer for it.
Then once a month, we're aiming for the last day of the month, no electricity. If that day falls on a weekday, I obviously won't be able to not use electricity at work. I don't think my employer would take that as an excuse not to do anything. But, when not at work that day I will not use my phone, I will ride my bike or walk, I will not turn on the lights, when the sun goes down I'll use a candle, we'll use the BBQ to cook or have a salad. I'm hoping that it's a little bit of a zen practice.
When I lived by myself I got in the habit of being at home in silence. I wouldn't turn on the TV or put on music when I got home. I would go about my business of cooking dinner or reading a book without the noise distraction. I didn't do it all the time. Sometimes it's nice to put on some good music and clean the house and chop and saute. Not having that constant background noise is good for us though. It makes us just be with ourselves, which is something that is oddly easy to avoid this day in age. It's so simple to turn on the TV or fiddle with your phone or hop in the car. Going through every day like that you hardly have to interact with the world at all.
I take the car a couple days a week to work to make the commute a little more tolerable and a lot quicker in the mornings. After driving for two days in a row though, I miss riding my bike and the time to myself that I get on the train. I would venture to guess that most people who have access to a car would not opt for a train ride for a commute as long as mine. I certainly didn't want to opt for that in the start. It seemed like such an inconvenience to bike and ride the train than to just drive. Once I started doing it though it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was nice to get in a little exercise, some fresh air, and a little time to read or fiddle with my phone while the freeway slips by outside the window, none of my concern.
I think if we deprive ourselves of some of those luxuries, even for one day a month or one day a week, that we will come to appreciate it more. We will find that those luxuries aren't really that necessary and we are actually happier without them being so present in our lives.
Last night was our first night on The Experiment. We ate our dinner outside. We walked through the garden and discussed the upcoming crops and pest management. We planned out the fence we want to build and figured out the layout. We talked about our future for the yard as a whole in landscaping and gardening. We talked about what we want to do for the wedding. We talked about what we want to do in the future in the grand scheme of things. We got a helluva lot done! Had it not been an Experiment day we would have watched a couple TV shows and I would have worked on some knitting, but we could do that any day.
Then once a month, we're aiming for the last day of the month, no electricity. If that day falls on a weekday, I obviously won't be able to not use electricity at work. I don't think my employer would take that as an excuse not to do anything. But, when not at work that day I will not use my phone, I will ride my bike or walk, I will not turn on the lights, when the sun goes down I'll use a candle, we'll use the BBQ to cook or have a salad. I'm hoping that it's a little bit of a zen practice.
When I lived by myself I got in the habit of being at home in silence. I wouldn't turn on the TV or put on music when I got home. I would go about my business of cooking dinner or reading a book without the noise distraction. I didn't do it all the time. Sometimes it's nice to put on some good music and clean the house and chop and saute. Not having that constant background noise is good for us though. It makes us just be with ourselves, which is something that is oddly easy to avoid this day in age. It's so simple to turn on the TV or fiddle with your phone or hop in the car. Going through every day like that you hardly have to interact with the world at all.
I take the car a couple days a week to work to make the commute a little more tolerable and a lot quicker in the mornings. After driving for two days in a row though, I miss riding my bike and the time to myself that I get on the train. I would venture to guess that most people who have access to a car would not opt for a train ride for a commute as long as mine. I certainly didn't want to opt for that in the start. It seemed like such an inconvenience to bike and ride the train than to just drive. Once I started doing it though it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was nice to get in a little exercise, some fresh air, and a little time to read or fiddle with my phone while the freeway slips by outside the window, none of my concern.
I think if we deprive ourselves of some of those luxuries, even for one day a month or one day a week, that we will come to appreciate it more. We will find that those luxuries aren't really that necessary and we are actually happier without them being so present in our lives.
Last night was our first night on The Experiment. We ate our dinner outside. We walked through the garden and discussed the upcoming crops and pest management. We planned out the fence we want to build and figured out the layout. We talked about our future for the yard as a whole in landscaping and gardening. We talked about what we want to do for the wedding. We talked about what we want to do in the future in the grand scheme of things. We got a helluva lot done! Had it not been an Experiment day we would have watched a couple TV shows and I would have worked on some knitting, but we could do that any day.
That's sounds challenging but totally doable! Good luck! I've actually though about how I miss reading on the bus like I used to...in middle school? So I was thinkind I'd break a my bike ride to work (if I so chose to do that, which I'm seriously thinking) with a ride, a max ride, then another ride. That would at least give me some quiet time.
ReplyDeleteI think its realy easy to "escape" our brains and ourselves now adays.