I often wonder, “What did we do before all these electronics came into our lives?” And then I remind myself, that I did live in the pre-historic time period before the IPad, cellphone, and laptop. What did we do? Well, we spent a heck of lot more time outside, I do know that. I realize the importance of each of these gadgets. I even realize the irony in the fact that I’m writing this on a laptop, while encouraging people and myself to step away from electronic toys. But, it’s the AMOUNT of time and devotion we give to these items that’s the problem. But, why? What is it about these things that causes us to miss the world around us?
Let me preface this next paragraph with a statement: I do not think TV is the devil (0r debil if you are the Waterboy’s momma). Our family currently has a TV, but we have no cable. We haven’t really watched TV for months. Recently, we were back in Kansas to visit family and we watched TV. I have to tell you, it felt foreign to me. Watching it made me feel like I had teleported into 2014 from the year 1750. I know, it was weird. Now that I’m back at home, I don’t miss it. I’m actually thankful that we don’t have cable. EXCEPT, I know I’m gonna want it come football season.
I live near Thomas Jefferson’s house, Monticello. I’ve taken the tour there many times now and every time I come away amazed at all the stuff Thomas Jefferson did. He studied EVERYTHING. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. He knew like seven languages. He studied architecture written in Italian and then designed his house. He was a politician, a farmer, a botanist, and a weatherman. He even built a really cool clock in his house. I mean, who does this? But, he was not alone. I’ve been to Washington’s house and James Madison’s house and these guys all did the same things. I used to think that people who lived before the electronic age were probably bored out of their minds, but I stand corrected. With no electronics these guys were able to teach themselves anything and everything and then applied it to their lives. Granted, these were men that were afforded more freedom and ability to do these things over the “common” man, but still. They put many of us to shame. When you have time on your hands, you either squander it or dive into it and squeeze every last drop of goodness out of it that you can.
It’s amazing what you can do with your life when you let go of electronics. This week’s reading in the “Hands Free Momma” book was about “sunset moments”. Sunset moments are those moments in life that are precious, memorable, and cherished, like the most beautiful sunset you can remember seeing. They all happen without the aid of an electronic gadget. The author stresses that we are missing these moments because our eyes are glued to our screens. These moments are going on around us, but we miss them because of the devotion we give to the almighty phone/computer/TV. Once she decided to put these items down for significant times of the day, she became more and more aware of the sunset moments in her life. She made a list of things that she noticed in a period of time that she would have otherwise missed due to electronic addiction. I decided to do the same thing.
In this past week, some of my sunset moments were:
–I took an evening walk with my family. We went slow and the girls found blackberry bushes along the way. We stopped and picked as many as we could and then came home and had them over homemade vanilla ice cream.
–While shopping at the store, Sydney grabbed my hand and held it. My hand was free to hold, cause there was no phone there.
–I sat in my hubby’s lap and tucked my face into his neck, just breathing him in.
–I worked out in the yard with my husband. He planted a little garden, I weeded my flower beds. Our son, Jeremiah, slept peacefully in his stroller in the shade.
–I crawled into bed one morning with my Rhianna and just held her for a moment before getting her up for breakfast.
–I sat on the couch and played with Jeremiah. He coo’d and smiled at me for a good long time. It’s so cute watching him learn to use his voice.
–I sat out on the front porch with my friends and watched the kids shoot off fireworks. We boo’d the dud fireworks, clapped at the good ones, and enjoyed each other’s company.
These are just a few things and my week feels so much fuller. More rich. More fulfilling. More joyful. These things have given me something that electronics never could–contentment, peace, and love. I will always remember these things, but I won’t remember 30 minutes from now what I just saw on my phone or watched in a TV sitcom. Without the distractions, my time has become more open and free and I can fill it with things that matter. This is what people did before the electronics age. They got creative, they got together as friends and family, they learned, they explored, they challenged themselves and they grew as people.
