I often get the question, “How are you adjusting?” in regards to having a newborn. I usually give the expected response- “Whew! Yeah, adjusting!” But in reality, the adjustment has been much less than I expected. Sure I often cook and wash dishes with Scotland in the baby bjorn. Sure, I may be bouncing a chair with one foot while applying makeup, and usually there’s a little fellow outside the shower door in the morning. But really, I get about as much done now as I did before. Granted maybe I’m just comparing it to three or four months ago when my prego bell preventing me from doing as much. Perhaps I can’t remember all that I got done before I was pregnant, but I think most of what has been weeded out and replaced with rocking and feeding, is time spend surfing the web. Tom and I both recently read the book “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” by Nicolas Carr. I highly recommend the read. Carr suggests that as a result of the endless linking possibilities on the internet it is slowly causing the deterioration of long term focus and as a result deep thinking. When was the last time you read an entire news article? Rather than skimming it before jumping to another, another, then checked your e-mail and then posted something on facebook, and then completely forgetting everything you had just “read.” It happens to me all the time.
Tom’s dedicated this week to a technology fast. He’s only using technology at work. He took his laptop and hid it away, and he’s going to leave his phone in the key pot when he gets home. I’ve decided to join him. I’m actually really excited about it. If our nights are spend browsing blogs, watching tv shows, and just checking our phones, maybe we’ll actually get out and go for a walk, visit a museum, or simply spend the evening reading a book. I’ve already caught a glimpse of the joy that flows in when time is spent away from such techy gadgets. My evenings are now spent singing to my newborn, and just thinking as I rock him in the silence of the nursery. I’ve found, as a result, that my spirituality has increased, and my thoughts are deeper.
Do you feel like technology is stealing your time? Join us!
(If you’re wondering how I’m writing this blog if I’m on a technology fast, well I too can use it during the work day. Baby steps!)
