Unplugged

There needs to be a time each day where we are unplugged from electronics and all things media. We need time for our minds to reset, to be still, calm, and undistracted by the busyness around us. We need to put our cellphones away, turn off the TV, the gaming systems, etc.

Even if it be for a few minutes, our minds need to soak in the silence, to be immersed in it. Some people do this by setting aside time for meditation, prayer, relaxed breathing, walking, observing a natural scenery, such as a pond or a river, looking at the petals of a flower, or by just closing one’s eyes. In doing so, it’s as if our minds our sailing somewhere–reaching an unknown destination while we watch the waves undulate around us, the bubbles rising to the surface, the fish swimming with the current. There’s a peace and calmness to the silence that washes away the chaos of our day, the worry, angst, and troubles that sprang up as soon as we had awoken–walking on hot charcoals each hour.

When I’m unplugged, that’s when my imagination can flourish and take root. It’s when ideas start to flood my mind, when I can daydream about fantastical worlds and adventures, when I can think on my own, find answers that only my mind can make sense of, and draw sensible conclusions about the world around me and the dilemmas of my day to day life.

When we’re plugged in to the news, social media, TV shows, etc., we’re bombarded with words, ideas, images and sounds that we can barely make sense of, nor have time to critique or question, since they transition so rapidly (and without rhyme or reason, such as in commercials). It’s as if the more we consume on a daily basis, the more passive our minds become, the less time we give to our own minds a chance to think, create, and imagine. When we’re plugged in for hours on end, we’re distracted from the time we could be using, pulled away from the source of our talents, energies, and thoughts, which is our minds.

But when I’m unplugged, I can create, write, think, and come up with something new that’s original to me. I’m not focused on the endless things that are happening around the world (which I have no control over), but I’m guided by the intentionality of my mind, channeling my thoughts and energies through it. Whether I’m taking a walk, or penning down my goals on post-it paper, there’s an autonomy and independence that comes from it where I’m in the driver seat and not the devices. It’s like seeing things time as a medium of possibilities and opportunities rather than half-hour or hour chunks that will be lost and consumed by things that merely take up time.

(I must add that there is the exception to using technology when it is to create, such as with animating or writing, as I’m doing with this post, since there’s an intentionality to it where the purpose is not to plug in to current events or the going-ons in social media, but to use technology as a means to create and express something. The same could be said with listening to music while writing or making art, since it sets the mood for the artist as they create.)