What day do you rush towards each week? (#TGIF) And what day do you want to feel extra long? (Saturday). Me too…but five years ago, those feelings became so much more profound. My husband, two children (5 and 11), and I participated in the first National Day of Unplugging, where we turned off screens on a Friday night for 24 hours. The experience was so moving that we decided to turn it into a weekly ritual. We call them our Technology Shabbats, and we’re going on our sixth year of doing it. It has been one of the best things we’ve ever done as a family. Every week, the ritual truly resets our souls.
A few things happened that I didn’t expect:
First, when you unplug… Time. Slows. Down. Suddenly you get four Saturdays in one.
And another thing is that by Saturday night when we go back online, we appreciate technology in this whole new way. Every time.
And then my favorite….we’re going into our 6th year of doing this, and the experience continues to become more and more profound the longer we do it.
Short Films on Unplugging
Our Technology Shabbats have inspired me to make several films about it. It started when for the first National Day of Unplugging (NDU), my husband Ken Goldberg and I were asked to write something for it — so rewrote Allen Ginsberg’s poem, Howl, as a manifesto for our need to “unplug.” When we started to incorporate it into our weekly lives, we also turned the poem into a 2-min film.
Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s Howl
Technology Shabbats
Then, after doing it for several years, I made this 5 min film Technology Shabbats.
A Case for Dreaming
Then after understanding how much unplugging each week had led to a lot more daydreaming which led to a lot more creativity, I made this 5 min film, A Case for Dreaming.
ParenTechnology
Then lastly, as my husband and I wrestled with whether or not to get a cell phone for our 5th grade daughter, we made this 5 min film, ParenTechnology.
Try It Out
If you need a digital detox too, join me tomorrow (Friday March 6th) for The National Day of Unplugging.
The National Day of Unplugging is one day a year that encourages people to be mindful of the impact of their use of digital devices throughout the year. Find out more at http://www.nationaldayofunplugging.com/
