my experiment to Unplug to Reconnect.

I’ve been reading and thinking a lot lately about how much of a consumer I am. I guess this is what I get for dedicating this year to reading and learning about economics. Over the last few weeks I keep wondering why I don’t act more. I mean sure, I get motivated. I can theorize and postulate with the best of them. But when it comes to action, I tend to get distracted rather easily.

I think that’s what is happening in our culture. It’s not that I don’t want to make the world a better place. I just think sometimes I forget to. I get distracted. I start worrying about making money. I start focusing on the next big thing. When I finally slow down, I just want some mindless entertainment. Whether it’s xBox 360, television, movies, music, internet . . . I find myself using these things to pacify or soothe my soul. Or at least numb my mind from thinking about all the serious stuff I need to do or be.

While there are great redeeming attributes about each one of these things . . . I think too often I allow myself to get distracted by them. Instead of spending the night giving Anna undivided attention, it’s way easier for me to watch television with her. Instead of spending the night acting in the world, it’s way easier for me to pop in a DVD about the Invisible Children. Instead of inviting my neighbor over to dinner, it’s way easier to order a pizza or grab some fast-food. Instead of getting involved at a deep level overseas, it’s way easier for me to log on to the internet and read an article or donate $25 to an organization. Instead of providing a need for someone in need, it’s way easier for me to go to the mall and buy something that I want.

Again, it’s not that these are bad things in and of themselves. But when I do them for extended periods of time, I think I end up drowning out the rest of the world. I think I end up getting lost in a culture of excess. And I think I end up detached from what matters.

I become lazy instead of active. Apathetic instead of passionate. Informed instead of experienced.

So for the next 7 days, I’m unplugging.

No Facebook. No blogging. No RSS-Feeds. No fast-food. No television. No DVDs. No iTunes. No internet. No xBox. No downloading. No uploading. No Coca-Cola. No Nike. I’m even go so far as to not buying anything that is not directly related to a need in my life, i.e. food, water, shelter.

It’s a buy nothing week. Consume nothing week.

I need this to reconnect myself and recenter myself in the “real world” and not the virtual world of entertainment.

How ironic is this that I even feel the need to explain this in my blog so that you’ll know why I’m not blogging for a week? It just goes to show how full of excess I am.

To be fair, I will be using my computer for work related emails and projects. For all of you former youth group members out there, God is my accountability partner.

Eric, you have full permission to hax and moderate comments if you get bored at work.