The Daily Unplug

On Sunday, our minister spoke about time and specifically the practice of Orthodox Jews to step out of the hectic chaos of daily life--to step out of regular time--to embrace the peace of their sabbath.  We can't do that, she noted, as 21st-century UUs (because it takes a village, or community, to commit to such an extensive observance and we tend to be more flexible and diverse than that), but we can try to adapt some of the ideas to our own practices.  We do already save an hour for Sunday worship--why not add a walk?  Or agree not to talk "shop" (committees, meetings, work) during fellowship?  And how about the rest of the week--could we unplug some, to step out of the rush of time crunches and embrace what is really important in our lives?

Unplug.  There's that word again. It keeps coming at me.  I already have an "unplugged basket" to drop my smartphone in when the family is home.  But I haven't been that good at relinquishing the 'droid.  So I'm trying again because, as our minister said, it's good to have aspirations.  I'm going to put my smartphone in the unplugged basket--now a wooden heart I bought at church that was made by a Haitian artist--every weekday from the bus arrival to bedtime, essentially three and a half hours from 4-7:30.  It's not too long, considering I'm fully plugged in from 8 am to 4 pm.  And even if I have my own time while the kids do their thing, I'm not going to blog or email; I'll read or cook or make something.  But what's important is to be present, available, not distracted by the computer/phone which is a kind of digital sedative when I'm restless or don't know what to do with myself.  We'll see what comes of it.