my crazy idea.

ever wonder why people make new year's resolutions so easily, and give up something frivolous for lent...but it seems drastic changes in our personal lives outside of these socially accepted milestones are viewed as being a little over the top?  maybe that's just my perception.

sometimes i get inspired ideas...thoughts of something amazing that i should do.  but a few hours or days later, that idea seems just crazy.  for example, i think about people in the Bible who sell everything they have and give it to the poor.  that is a radical concept, and certainly inspired.  but maybe the day after you have that first inkling, the whole thing just seems ridiculous.  why would i go that far, when i can just volunteer a day at a soup kitchen?  or give a little extra at church this week?  why would i hold myself to that insane idea i had, when no one else expects me to actually do it?

so most of my inspired ideas end up forgotten whims...and some are half-finished projects in my sewing closet.

but a few weeks ago, i had another of those ideas.  what if we completely cut technology out of our lives for a month?  cell phones...tv...computers...radio...  what if we wrote letters instead of email?  what if we had an open door policy and encouraged friends to pop in for a visit, whenever?  and unlike most of my crazy ideas, this one stuck a bit. 

i told derek about it...(a dumb thing to do if i didn't want to be held accountable to actually trying it)...he liked it.

so it's been a couple weeks and we've been figuring out when is a good time to start something like this?  it's kind of like trying to plan a good time to have a kid...there's no perfect time, you just have to dive in.

so here we are.  day one.

it became obvious as we were contemplating this craziness that a complete cut off from technology was pretty much impossible.  as a pampered chef consultant, i need to be using my business web site and answering emails, not to mention calling people on the phone.  plus, what would my gmail account look like if i didn't log in for a whole month??  i also need to use the computer for freelance design work.  and what about checking the weather?  what about looking up directions (since we don't have any paper maps)?  what about emergencies?

so we began to look at the reasons why we wanted to take on this crazy idea, and make our ground rules based on attacking specific issues.

1. i (megan) want to spend time with God.
i've been struggling spiritually for a long time now...years.  and whenever i pray about it, asking God what do i need to do??  i always hear him prodding me that the first step is to be reading His Book.  of course, i know this is the first step.  i've known for years.  but making the time...ah.  with two kids and a house that is never clean, there are plenty of distractions and excuses.  tv is just the biggest one.  i've gone on tv fasts before...and they've been good...but never this long.

2. charis is one step away from netflix instant queue addiction.
i admit.  we've gotten lazy with her.  my word, the girl knows how to find her shows and start them on her own with the wii-remote. and with everything that's been going on in our house with projects...with timon...with just wanting a break...it is too easy to let her watch "one more show"...especially when you get a meltdown if you don't give in.  this is why it's so important to address that behavior now.  and i don't mean her meltdowns...i mean our complacency.  (though i'm much worse than derek is.)  so now we will lead by example.  it will be much easier to tell her "no" when we're not watching anything either.  plus, we want to focus her more on playing outside...doing crafts...creative play.

3. we want to spend our time focusing more on each other and those around us.
i have a sneaking suspicion that all those things i "don't have time for" will seem much more feasible without all the time i'm sinking into other distractions.

4. to break some cycles.
our night time routine is currently this:  dinner.  play with kids.  get kids to bed.  watch a movie or seinfeld in bed. fall asleep.  derek and i want more for our time together, and we need to get out of our nighttime cycle...talk more...hang out more...

5. sometimes you just have to take things a little too far.
did you know i used to be a vegetarian?  yeah.  for like two years.  why?  because i hated vegetables.  i hated vegetables, and i decided that i should be a vegetarian so that i could learn to like vegetables.  i WANTED to like vegetables.  so i forced myself to eat them more.  and it actually worked.  i now like vegetables.  (i still hate mushrooms, but they're not vegetables anyway.)  so now, i WANT to turn off the tv and read the Bible.  i WANT to stop cruising the internet and play with charis more.  i WANT to have a quiet home where time is enjoyed and not squandered.  but sometimes i have to go 100% the other way to get myself to a happy medium on the other side.

so here we are in a quasi techno-fast. yes, we will listen to music in the car.  yes, we will maybe watch a movie once in a while on a date night -- when it's planned and not just habit.  yes, i will use the interenet to look up a phone number if i need to.  and we're not turning off our phones.  but i won't be hanging around on facebook, i won't be spending a lot of time in email, and we will not be watching television (though i will turn on the tivo once in a while to delete old stuff.)

so if you're curious how it's going, check back here.  i plan to keep a diary of sorts...we'll see how it goes. 

is there something you've been wanting to give up but haven't had the discipline to do?  i'd love to hear about it.  what's getting in the way of you living your life the way you want to, the way you know God wants you to?