Today marks the official end of my media fast. I say "official" because I have been phasing things back in over the last two weeks, and I also plan on continuing to limit my media intake. still, I wanted to take the time to blog my experience while it was still fresh in my mind. This is something I highly recommend anyone to try, especially stay at home moms, and people who are over-stressed for any reason. I recommend doing a minimum of three very strict weeks of no media and then going from there.
The first week of my media fast was both challenging and relieving. It was definitely a task to try and figure out new routines. For example, I used to check Facebook/e-mail while I pumped, and that was no longer an option. So instead I actually just played with Josiah, held him on my lap etc.. As time went on, and we werent watching tv in the evenings either, I was playing with Josiah more and more. Embarassingly, in my first week off media, josiah made some major strides in his eating, in his cognitive developmental play, and even started taking more steps. It was quite a wake-up call. I also lost about 5 lbs in my first three weeks off media, because I suddenly had enough time to squeeze in my 20 minute workouts, and had time to meal plan and thus, eat a bit healthier. It was great!
it wasn't until week 4 that I really started using this time for God. A friend and I decided to start reading through the new testament again (I just did it with Riverwood Church's Route 66 journey through the new testament). I am only ending Acts now, but I have also started a prayer journal again which is something I haven't done for a while now. I am ashamed I didn't bring God into things sooner in the media fast, but better late than never. It is such a good thing, to remove all the secular voices in your head, and instead listen for God's voice... as I type this, I am thinking, perhaps I actually needed those 4 weeks to silence the other voices in my mind, telling me lies about my life, self-worth, God, my family, expectations etc... Prior to my media fast, I had a hard time sitting down and praying at all, let alone listening for God's voice. My sense of discernment was not present. Now I can hear and discern His voice very well. Although I have a long ways to go, I can sense that my relationship with Christ is much improved.
I have also found that we are socializing more! There are two reasons for this... we have a house now, and i am not on facebook all the time. It's pretty funny how much MORE social I am, the less time I spend on social media. funny hey? well it's true...
My guess is there are a few of you reading this thinking "ya I could've told you all of that would happen" or "ya you were clearly one of those iphone moms"... and I would agree with you, but I know I wasn't "one of the bad ones"...like, I was maybe half-way to an iphone mom. and the truth is, I was definately turning to my apps when I was stressed instead of allowing myself to deal with my feelings, and with the peopl around me. I used media as a means of shutting down, and not dealing with my issues. Now I am in a place where I am confident in my own thoughts. My lack-of-confidence is something I was previousely blaming on other people and that wasn't healthy either.
So, ya! I highly reccomend a media fast for anyone at any stage of life!!
As for phasing it back in, I started week 4 with watching tv once in a while with Curtis, simply because we were struggling to connect on some of his more exhaustive days of work. There is really nothing else his brain/body can handle sometimes other than vegging out in front of the tv, and this was a way I could at least do some side-by-side time with him. Then I did one or two e-mail checks, and discovered maybe 4 real emails amidst the hundreds of junk mails, which got me thinking about how little I really need to be checking my e-mail, let-alone doing so on my phone... Same thing with a quick facebook check (mainly to ensure I didnt have epicure orders sitting there).
So now I am in a place where these are my currently planned media limits.
- 1 hr tv a day max (and with curtis or people/as a socializing thing)
- 1 facebook check a day and it has to be on the desktop
- 1 email check a day and on the desktop
- no apps (pinterest, facebook, recipe stuff, games etc...)
- researching things is okay (God stuff, health, food, parenting etc...)
- Spiritually enriching stuff okay (bible app, podcast sermons, etc...)
- movies okay once in a while, as a date or social event, but watch movie choices (the new transformers movie made me feel like garbage afterwards...senseless violence isn't necessary for my soul. I found my thoughts were immediately more aggressive, which is something I never would have noticed before.)
- blogging is okay, after daily priorities are completed (dishes, / other chores, exercise, Josiah napping or sleeping, etc...)
I am planning to be pretty strict with this for at least a month, and then we will see what happens after that.
anyway, that is all for now!
