Fasting from the 'net? From Computers? Oh, my...

The subject of fasting has come up at our meeting more than once, and as recently as January 21st (text and audio). I've been thinking some on various things to fast from since then. While I acted on nothing at first (and nothing appeared to act upon me), I have found as the weeks go by that I am slowly, almost unconsciously, moving towards removing some old bad habits and starting new, better ones. (Does replacing count as fasting? Hmmm... I think it's a step in the right direction at least.)

With my chosen career path, the internet, email and computers are a pretty integrated part of my life. And the same with many friends and family around me. I check email and blogs of friends and aquiantances before 6am most days. I love to see the new article count for RSS feeds go up, meaning there's more good stuff to read from Gregg, Aj, Jason, Robin, Liz, Andy, Sherry... Folks under Places to Visit and more. If you're up on the 'net stuff, there's been plenty of articles to read about how the thirtysomethings and younger are addicted to email, blogs, surfing, etc. The Wall Street Journal ran an article from Jennifer Saranow yesterday (Valentine's Day) about email junkies. AOL has a copy of it available to read titled Deleting the Habit: How Email Junkies Do in Withdrawal.

I don't think email is "like cocaine" for me, but I do hear that voice in my head wondering if there's a note waiting for me. Or if a blog post or comment has been (re-)commented on. It is a bit like getting hooked on a drug. Neural pathways like being reused. It's a comfort, regardless of whether the action itself is good, bad or evil.

Going cold-turkey is too drastic for me. I don't think it's the answer, and it certainly would not be sustainable. But a day of rest? A day away from click of the mouse, the sound of hard drives and fans with the high-pitch of a battery backup in the background? I think that's doable. And I think it will be a good thing. I imagine I'll have a good deal of time to take care of things left undone (sometimes called permanent delay), spend time with family, and time to spend in silence.