A Day Without E-Media

For some the idea of living without digital media is horrifying. For others they would hardly notice a difference at all. For myself, it would be painful. I would consider myself a more than moderate user of digital media. There are very few times in the day when I'm not watching TV or sitting in front of a computer, or talking to friends on my phone. So for me, going an entire day with out media was quite a struggle. I decided to do the deprivation experiment over Thanksgiving, that way I could spend most of my time talking with my family and cooking, I knew i would need something to distract me from my usual media intake.

I woke up in the morning to my cell phones alarm going off.  Although we weren't supposed to use phones, I figured an alarm didn't really count as media. That is unless the clock really is a game. After I rolled out of bed I walked into my bathroom to do my usual hygiene routine, then went back into my room and sat down at my desk like I always do. I sat there for about thirty minutes trying to figure out what to do. Normally I would open my laptop, check my email, talk to some friends online, and read some internet news. But i couldn't do any of that. I turned to my left and looked at my tv sitting about 3 feet away from me and just though of how useless that big box would be today. After sitting there and just staring at my closed laptop for a while, my mom finally called me to come look at something, and its a good thing she did, I'm not sure how much longer i would have been sitting there if she hadn't. 

After the morning I spent most of the day cooking food with my family. I really enjoy cooking, so it kept me well entertained. Admittedly I did respond to two text messages from people wishing my happy Thanksgiving, and I did talk on the phone when my grandmother called me. After all I didn't want to be totally rude. Once dinner was served and eaten, my stepfather put on a football game in the living room. I'm not a big fan of sports so it was easy for me to ignore it and help my mom clean up from dinner. I then made my way upstairs where I sat back down at my desk. I realized just how boring my room was without my tv or computer on. After about 10 minutes of sitting I started feeling tired, it seemed that the turkey's tryptophan had started going to work on me. So I laid down in my bed where I ended up sleeping for 4 hours.

When I woke up it was about 11:30, my parents were sleeping so I didn't really have any one to talk to or otherwise keep me entertained. I started to feel totally alone. I had no connection with any one. I thought for a moment about driving to one of my friends houses, but most of them were out of state, visiting family. I did have one friend that lived near by that I thought about driving to go see. Then I thought about how i would have no way to get in contact with him to see if it would be okay for me to come over. If I couldn't use the phone or IM then how could I get in contact with him with out just driving over and knocking on the door. I thought for a while how, before phones, people planned things with each other. I thought that they must have had to plan on meet at a specific time at a certain place. Either that or just be very polite about people randomly knocking on your door to see if you were available to hang out. I gave up on the idea of hanging out with any one after I realized that all we would do if play video games and watch movies if I did go over anyones house. so I just laid there on my bed thinking for a while. I knew that I wouldn't be able to go to bed for at least a few more hours, not after the 4 hour nap I just had. I started feeling like I was being punished. When I was younger my parents would punish me by taking away video games and tv for extended periods of time. Maybe its just because of my parents methods of punishment, or the fact that I got in trouble very often as a kid, but I really started feeling anxious without being able to use my computer and TV. I started reliving the memories of middle school, how I would get my games taken away and then I would fight with my parents, yelling and screaming at them to give them back. "god I was a brat" I thought to myself. But the feeling of anxiety didn't go away.

Eventually I gave up, I got out of bed opened my laptop, turned on the tv and called up a friend on my cell phone. It was about midnight when I did this, and I had woken up at 10 am. 14 hours I went without using any form of e-media, I figured that was enough. I spent the next 4 hours watching a House marathon on tv, talking to friends online through IM's, and playing a video game on my PSP. I kind of felt bad for breaking the fast, but its not like I didn't learn anything. I really saw just how much I depend on e-media for entertainment and to stay in contact with people. As well, for me at least, I felt some what like i saw in jail. Trapped in the walls of my parents house, with no where to go and no one to talk to. I really think that in todays society most people depend on digital media to release them from the bonds of solitude. As well I think that it is hard for most people to keep themselves entertained with out electronics.