No Screen Night
I am such a blatant follower and I don’t care. When I see a good idea I’ve no qualms about jumping on it, tweaking it for my own use and putting it into action. The most recent brilliant idea I’m co-opting for my own use is Ariel Stallings 52 Nights Unplugged.
one night a week, I am going to completely unplug from anything
with a screen. This means no internet, no sidekick, no watching dvds.
I plan to focus instead on the other things I like doing like writing
letters, crafting, organizing, dancing, going for walks, cooking and
making tea, writing in my paper journal. I might also try picking up
some new things to like such as watercolors, scrapbooking, mail art,
dance classes, attending lit readings, etc. Regardless, one night a
week I’m going to unplug.
Far more often than I would like B and I find ourselves on the couch at night each with a laptop or with one of us with a laptop and the other watching something mindless on tv, or one of us trying to read while the other watches something mindless on tv or some variation of these things. We’ve both been trying to read more (I’ve read 9 books so far this year) and have more peaceful evenings to help us unwind, decompress and move away from any stresses of the day. I think one night a week committed to staying away from both computers and television is a nice step toward that decompression goal.
Tonight is our first attempt at stepping away from the screens for an evening. I’m making curried egg salad with Romain hearts and roasted carrots and cauliflower for dinner and I’ll be serving it with a 6-grain baguette and some fantastic herb butter. That meal is as far as I’ve planned the evening. I hope the evening includes starting a new book, a game or two of rummy, and something crafty or creative and perhaps a little work setting up a few things in my still life studio. Like Ariel, I’m a perpetual documenter so I wouldn’t be surprised if I write about our adventures in screenlessness. Unlike Ariel I’m not committing to doing this for 52 weeks. I hope we enjoy it and do it on a regular basis but if it doesn’t have the desired outcomes we’re looking for we might try something different. I do like the idea of one night a week being dedicated to relaxation and us-ness. If that takes the form of one night a week without tv or laptops great, if it’s one night a week that we dedicate to writing letters great, if it’s one night a week that we spend as a date night that’s great too. I’m open to bringing a little more enjoyment, a little more peace, a little more relaxation and a little more purposeful attention to our selves and our life in whatever forms work.
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