unplugging

I’ve been noticing something lately.

The other day I was at my favorite writing cafe.  It was a nice Saturday afternoon and conditions seemed perfect for writing.  Yet the writing didn’t come.  This happens to every writer every once in a while.  It’s part of the territory and it’s nothing to stress over.  You just have to roll with it and use the time for some other purpose.

So I decided to spend the time thinking.  Yes, I know.  Thrilling.  But it’s necessary.  I have several plans and issues on my plate at the moment and some free time to contemplate all of these subjects is a real gift.

But just as I was about to get started…. beep.  A Facebook update, or a blue light on my phone indicating a tweet response, or a whistle indicating a text message or the ring of an email coming in.  Little things but they can wreck a thought process or stop it from ever starting.

So instead of thinking about all those other issues I started thinking about these distractions.  When was the last time I had truly been alone with my thoughts for a good long time without any of this coming in and butting in?

Oddly enough it was back in my bar hopping days.  Weird I know but way back when I used to go to clubs and bars I would go to some really loud place where I couldn’t hear my phone and just sit back in some shady corner booth and nurse a drink or two for a couple of hours.  It was like some sort of white noise that separated me from the world at large and really let me think.

Nowadays?  Running gives me a bit of a respite from the world but it’s maybe an hour?  hour and a half and half that time I’m keeping my eyes open trying not to trip up or get hit by a car.  Bedtime?  As soon as I crawl into bed I want to sleep so try as I might I can’t get a thought process going.

So why not just turn off the damn phone or tablet or whatever?  There’s always the fear that the second that you do you’ll miss a phone call or tweet or whatever that you need to answer right away.  Never works out that way…cept when it does.  The minute you turn it off, you know someone will be trying to get a hold of you.

That’s the curse of the instant communications era.  You know that you need to keep awake and aware and that fear robs you of that precious time that you need to think.

And I’m not the only one that this is happening to.  I’ve noticed other people complain about the exact same thing.  These little conveniences are robbing us of the time and opportunity to think.  We desperately need to get away from these things.  They seem to be so innocuous but they’re a real danger to a thinking person.