Am I connected or am I just wired?

At the moment, I am absolutely wired! I am always wired up to the Internet, checking emails, facebook, blogs etc. Texting and chatting on my phone. It's so bad I think I've repetitive strain injury in my thumb - not a good sign!

From sun up to sun down and beyond, I'm wired: radio at breakfast time, phonecalls in the car (handsfree of course), texting in line at the checkout, checking emails while breastfeeding, tv in the evening. At night time I delay my sleepy eyes from closing because I don't want to turn off my phone.

No, this is definitely not connecting. I'm not connecting fully with the people I meet through out the day. And most importantly the precious moments with the little lady are slipping by, with me wired to something. (She has recently taken to grabbing my phone off me and putting it to her ear as she wobbles up and down the kitchen having a big babbling conversation with the phone ... Hmm where did she learn this from?)

Now you might say I'm obviously an addict, but it's all just fitted so seamlessly into my life that I never even noticed ... until last Friday, when my phone went dead and the car radio wouldn't work. The strangest thing happened ... there was silence. My thumb was twitching with nowhere to go and my mind was just left there with my thoughts and no escape. But you know what, I had such a peaceful day and it got me thinking to declare Fridays wire-free.

I'm reading Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, where he suggests that, although every hour and every day, should be a practice of mindfulness, in reality this is difficult, but if we can reserve one day in the week dedicated to mindfulness, eventually this day will penetrate the other days. So Friday is my day. I'll turn off my phone, laptop, tv and radio. Instead I'll read books, write with pen and paper (so old fashioned!) and most of all, spend real time with my daughter. Being realistic I'll have to keep my phone on until noon for work, but I'll only use it for incoming calls. I will not get lost in the wired world but stay rooted in the moment - just for Fridays at least.

As I was saying in my previous post I think the internet can be used to truly connect with society, to give our positive thoughts power and strength to evolve faster than ever before, but we must remain grounded in our everyday lives and watch ourselves carefully to make sure we're truly connecting and not just wired.

I'll keep you updated with how I get on. As I'm writing I'm thinking what a long day Friday is going to be, how will I fill up my time?

Richael x