RSS FeedMay 28 2009
My Week-Long Media Fast
One of the first things I did upon moving up to Portland was to join a Artist’s Way group led by Ingrid Kincaid.
The Artist’s Way is a book written by Julia Cameron. It is a program of “artistic recovery” and involves a twelve-week structure of exercises. I first did the program roughly a decade ago when the book first became popular in writing circles. I find it useful to repeat the exercises every couple of years. Moreover, I really enjoy being part of an Artist Way group because they tend to attract a fascinating mix of people I enjoy getting to know and spend time with.
The one thing I dread in the program is Week #4 because one of the exercises for that week is a week-long media fast. That means: no books, magazines, NPR, TV, movies, music with lyrics, email that is not work-related, frantic reading of the back of cereal boxes, etc. The point of the exercise is to disconnect from the constant stream of information our modern brains are constantly bombarded with so that one can more easily listen to one’s own internal voice.
Now, I don’t own a TV and I can fairly easily go a week without that or movies. Music is slightly more difficult as I really enjoy it, but I’ve got plenty of music without lyrics. However, I love NPR. And I’m thoroughly addicted to the written word. I am a voracious reader. Books are my sustenance and connection to the outside world. The thought of going without them, my news feeds, or non-work-related email for a week sends me into fits of anticipatory withdrawal.
Which, I’m afraid, also means it’s likely I’ll learn something worthwhile from the exercise. It’s hard to say, though, as I’ve never actually made it the full week before when I’ve completed the program. I’m going to give it my best shot this time, though.
Because I received a decent amount of email related to this website, I will be checking my personal email twice daily. I will also be online long enough to submit posts to both Coming Unmoored and the Small Living Journal. But if I seem a little scarce online the upcoming week, you now know what’s up.
The good news is that this exercise should free up some time to both work on my house and also to do more actual writing (rather than my obsessively following every bit of news related to the small home movement). I’ll keep you posted on how things progress.
One of the first things I did upon moving up to Portland was to join a Artist’s Way group led by Ingrid Kincaid.
The Artist’s Way is a book written by Julia Cameron. It is a program of “artistic recovery” and involves a twelve-week structure of exercises. I first did the program roughly a decade ago when the book first became popular in writing circles. I find it useful to repeat the exercises every couple of years. Moreover, I really enjoy being part of an Artist Way group because they tend to attract a fascinating mix of people I enjoy getting to know and spend time with.
The one thing I dread in the program is Week #4 because one of the exercises for that week is a week-long media fast. That means: no books, magazines, NPR, TV, movies, music with lyrics, email that is not work-related, frantic reading of the back of cereal boxes, etc. The point of the exercise is to disconnect from the constant stream of information our modern brains are constantly bombarded with so that one can more easily listen to one’s own internal voice.
Now, I don’t own a TV and I can fairly easily go a week without that or movies. Music is slightly more difficult as I really enjoy it, but I’ve got plenty of music without lyrics. However, I love NPR. And I’m thoroughly addicted to the written word. I am a voracious reader. Books are my sustenance and connection to the outside world. The thought of going without them, my news feeds, or non-work-related email for a week sends me into fits of anticipatory withdrawal.
Which, I’m afraid, also means it’s likely I’ll learn something worthwhile from the exercise. It’s hard to say, though, as I’ve never actually made it the full week before when I’ve completed the program. I’m going to give it my best shot this time, though.
Because I received a decent amount of email related to this website, I will be checking my personal email twice daily. I will also be online long enough to submit posts to both Coming Unmoored and the Small Living Journal. But if I seem a little scarce online the upcoming week, you now know what’s up.
The good news is that this exercise should free up some time to both work on my house and also to do more actual writing (rather than my obsessively following every bit of news related to the small home movement). I’ll keep you posted on how things progress.
WOW Steph, this sounds like a really cool challenge. I’ve heard amazing things about The Artist’s Way; it’s on my long reading list.
I’ll be at my parents place this weekend and plan on taking an internet fast. I’m hoping to get some writing done. Twitter has become a major distraction for me. LOL.
I’ve made it about three days through the media fast. Good luck to you!
I gave up TV a while back. We still have one of course and watch DVDs and Julia watches a show from time to time but we pretty much never turn the news on. I get all my news from being online but I don’t even go looking for it. I find it on Twitter, through co-workers, online radio (KOZT), etc.
(side note: KOZT is a tiny ‘real’ radio station on the Mendocino Coast and the morning news is done by Joe Regelski, who some of you might recognize as a well known SF Bay Area radio news guy. He’s dropped out and lives out on the coast now. His news is fear-free and amazingly unbiased. If KOZT is the last real radio station, Joe is the last real news journalist.)
My personal take is that the news (online, tv, and most radio) is a magnifying glass for all the bad in the world. Avoiding the TV also frees my mind and time for other things and generally helps me feel more positive and creative.
I work in the news business, so I can’t step away from it except when I’m on vacation. Even then it’s hard; I want to know what’s happening.
My mother is visiting next week, so I’m taking a week’s vacation to spend time with her. I’m planning on seeing if I can make it a week without turning on my computer or using my cellphone to check Facebook, e-mail or Twitter. (I won’t be blogging, and someone else is going to approve any comments I get.)
My mother also gave me my copy of “The Artist’s Way.” I’ll have to look at that part again and tell her about what you’re doing. She’ll get a kick out of it.
Best of luck, Stephanie. I hope it’s illuminating!
Naomi
I don’t watch much tv and rarely read the news, but no online activity is probably listed along with waterboarding and listening to techno as a form of torture in the Geneva Convention.
Good luck with it though!
Good for you!
I don’t have a regular daily or even weekly routine of checking the news, and I’m generally unplugged from the media. I have an opportunity to watch five televisions simultaneously at the gym, but usually prefer listening to music.
I suppose to a degree many of us have signed up to our own favorite news sources and feeds (such as ComingUnmoored.com) to get selective news and reporting. I like the home-grown organic news that I get from this site and others.
When I first stopped watching television some years ago, I notice that it really impacted my life in a positive way, so I decided to stick with it.
~ Greg
i’ve read a few pages of the “Artist Way” by Julia Cameron. Couldn’t really finish. Busy housewife. So far I’m doing the “morning pages” Maybe it helps a bit. I don’t do it religiously.