Media Fast

(Top Gear's pretty flipping sweet)

This post is late, but I actually did the media fast. I just never quite got around to making a blog post about it...

To preface, I don't use much technology. I love watching movies and tv (sports and a few favorite shows), but I don't spend hours on the internet browsing through websites. The only time I ever do spend hours on the internet is when I'm at work and have burned out doing homework. I did it over a weekend where I wasn't scheduled to work.


The biggest reason I use digital media now is to stay on contact with my fiance who lives in North Carolina. We text throughout the day (although compared to others, not that much; my brother texts 50% more than me and his girlfriend lives in Provo), and Facetime once a week. While I love using Facetime, we decided to only do it once a week because it makes us miss each other more. We do talk about an hour a day.

I also don't play video games. I've played about 5 hours worth of video games in the last 3 years.

One type of media I do use a lot of is music. I'm pretty much always listening to music.

When I did the media fast, my life felt pretty similar. I didn't get on the computer to check my email, and I didn't watch any tv or movies. The biggest change was not listening to music, and I quite enjoyed it. It was nice to have my head cleared. I did, however, continue texting my fiance. I felt that it was necessary both for my and her.

While it may seem pointless to post a blog about this, I actually did find value in the exercise. It gave me time to think about the types of media that I use and the purpose behind it. I've realized that while it's ok to listen to music, I could be listening to other things. I have listened to a few audiobooks the past year, but I don't enjoy listening to them unless I have long periods of time to listen to them. I have actually started listening to more talk radio to try and stay connected to the world instead of getting all of my information from a few internet news sources. I've also realized that I could do more to connect with the outside world. I have some friends that I haven't talked to and it would be wonderful to reconnect with them.

I think taking a step back every once in a while is a great tool to help us analyze our lives and see where they're headed.