I've been considering taking a complete break from technology/ internet/ computers for some time now, just to see if the constant deluge of information was clogging up my creative gears. I wasn't sure I could do it, the lure of the computer is, for me, very strong: the quest for up to the minute news, the need to be in the loop, the ease of finding answers at the click of a mouse button - hard to resist.
Well, I did it! Though I should probably confess here, being in a cottage in the depths of Kent with no internet access was a big help! I also have to confess to using my phone to find a couple of items, when I could get mobile signal. In my defence, the signal was so flaky and 3G so hit and miss, that mostly I gave up searching before the answer appeared anyway! The important thing is, I survived without internet access, mostly, for a whole week.
So, did I miss it? Well, not especially. We had BBC News to satisfy my need to keep up to date, though their habit of repeating themselves endlessly, covering the same story over and over, was infuriating. And exploring Kent and Sussex proved sufficiently mind-occupying to keep the internet pretty far from my thoughts.
I think what I've learned from this is that I should limit my time online. Allowing my mind to figure things out for itself, to feed itself on the world around me, did seem to unblock my creative side a little.
I'll let you know how I manage. Hopefully at the very least my experiment will lead to a few more short stories for the website.
I'm off now to stare at the rain and not think about computers! Don't think about computers ... don't think about computers ...
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