Do not adjust your computer screens, I, Ozone Mama, am actually blogging. I swear, the hottest part of hell must have frozen over in order for this to occur. Well, perhaps I’m exaggerating.
As part of my “Be Well in 2010″ resolution, I have taken part in a “digital cleanse” via the rules of my Twitter pal John Mayer. The objectives of this cleanse were to, for one week, abstain from social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc.), to only use your computer to check email (sporadically), and to use your cell phone, for well, phone calls. For a person, such as myself, who is an avid texter and who has a phone capable for making text messaging incredibly easy, this was the hardest part!
So, I thought that I would take this opportunity to blog what did with my spare time since I wasn’t using every spare moment to surf the internet.
1) Cleaned the basement
–> This was a HUGE deal for me. In my house, the only place I hang out is my bedroom. And bedroom is quite an understatement. It’s really my bedroom/office/living room/exercise studio (hence the problem). Having a 13 x 10 space that is used for 4 different purposes can tend to make the space a bit cluttered and for a person who is insanely organized…it made me a bit, well, nutty.
The basement had been, for a long time, just a place where old exercise equipment, toys, and hand-me-downs went to die. And after the big flood of 2008, what wasn’t destroyed by water damage had been put in plastic bins on tables. And then those bins multiplied until only a small walkway remained. I began the transformation by slowly going through boxes of toys and books (I could literally open a small library with my expansive and diverse book collection), and at the end of day 1, I have made quite a dent into the mountain of stuff. By day 4, I had cleared out a space to set up my futon from college and lay down my rug. I used a sewing cabinet and a videocassette cart for endtables and plugged in some old lamps from my great-grandma’s bedroom. I was able to actually use my new space for exercise yesterday, and to just relax and watch tv without lying in my bed. That was a big issue with my bedroom being my be-all space. I was constantly either in my bed or on my floor. I studied on my bed, watched tv/played video games on my bed, slept there, etc. Now, I have a futon in my new space. And now, I can actually have my bedroom, be a bedroom. It will still be an office for now because I can’t move my desk down here until the house gets fully waterproofed, well water-protected. After seeing the Doctor Who episode “The Waters of Mars”, not much can be fully waterproofed, but I digress.
2) Got into a car accident
–> Ok, so this isn’t a good outcome of the digital cleanse, but I’m fairly certain that this is carry-over from the debacle that was 2009 (Ok, 2009 wasn’t all bad. There were some good points, like hanging out with my sister, having an internship at Fermilab, flying to Spain and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. But everything except that, was shitastic). My car accident was a minor fender bender. I was on my way to babysit my nephew, and then my sister told me that I didn’t have to, so instead of turning right around and go back home, I decided I would go to Myopic to shop. I was literally one exit away, I look down for one second, and BLAMO! I rear-end the car in front of me. Everyone was alright, but it wasn’t exactly the way to start the new year.
3) I caught-up on knitting, cleaning, and Doctor Who
–> I’m knitting this scarf for a friend for Christmas (yes, I’m aware of this being mid-January and Christmas being 3 weeks ago). And I really have a problem with seeing things through until the end. I’m super at starting projects, and getting them organized and working at them until I’m 3/4 of the way finished, and then I hit the wall and lose my focus to complete the task. This is another reason that cleaning up the basement and getting it nice was such a big deal. I needed to prove to myself that I am capable of seeing a project through until the end. Anywho, there was a Doctor Who marathon on BBC America and I had missed the entire 4th season (mainly because it was David Tennant’s last full season and I was kind of protesting his departure by not watching). The fourth season was the best season yet! And I watched the miniseries of Doctor Who specials and then watched the last episode where David Tennant played the doctor. I was really attached to Christopher Eccleston when he played the Doctor in Series 1, so when David Tennant came aboard, I had my doubts. But he is such an incredible actor, and it has been quite literally an honor to watch him play a character that he had watched and admired as a child. I have the same doubts for the new doctor, but I hope that he will do the role justice and bring a new perspective to the character. I look forward to see what he has to bring come this summer!
4) I learned a lot about myself
–>By disconnecting from all things interweb, I learned a lot about myself. I learned about what I could do without. I don’t need to obsessively check the social networking sites, or my email. I need to spend more time reading, less time tweeting, more time living, less time watching, and more time being active, and less time thinking about being active. I learned a bit more about who I am and what I want out of life and out of my relationships with people. I learned also that you can try your hardest to do the right thing by people, but some people will still be assholes. And that how other people react, or act, for that matter is out of my control. And as much as I would want them to see what I see, I can’t force this. They will either realize their reality or they won’t, and that’s not something I can worry about. I need to take care of myself. I’ve been putting myself on the back-burner so long for people that I had lost a big piece of my identity. I had lost the most important part of me, I didn’t know who I was anymore, or who I wanted to become. So, I put a band-aid over the gaping wound and assimilated with the crowd, instead of standing out like I usually would. I got so exhausted trying to be the person others wanted me to be, that I needed a break before I broke, myself.
Overall, I would say that my brain has been defragmented and that I should do a digital cleanse more often. I’m going to tweet less, and have my tweets and all things I say socially have more meaning and not package myself into 140 character boxes when I can be so much more.
