Post Blackout

This was a long week. Finley started teething (THREE, I repeat, THREE teeth at a time), so I cheated. Every day. I watched an hour of TV while holding her every day, so it wasn't a COMPLETE media blackout. On Thursday, I woke up thinking, Ugh, I hate Saturdays. Friday I woke up wondering what time Beans and Brews closed on Sundays. It was a long week.

I spent a lot of time sitting, listening to that "silence" I was craving, counting seconds... Some days were fantastic. Other days I just wanted to Google things to do when you're bored and watch Bill Maher reruns.

I thought I'd want to be creative, but I felt deadened creatively--I think for me, at least, that whirlwind creativity found in the media feeds my creativity. Ideas feed my ideas.

Sometimes, I think you do need to silence the voices with something dull and crass. Literally listening to my thoughts was at first weird. It sounded like it would just be a completely metaphorical thing to do, but then something switched and I physically listened to them, as if it's a courtroom and I could literally transcribe it all.

Silence is terrifying and liberating.

I think, in our era, we are so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by creativity. Number one on most peoples' bucket lists is to write a book. Technology both stifles us and encourages us creatively.

The minute I turned on the media full-blast, I felt overwhelmed. Suddenly I wanted to be thin, gorgeous, witty, and productive. I saw things I wanted to be, do, become. I felt lazy and inefficient, like nothing is ever enough.

Final verdict: very highly recommended experiment. I'll probably do mini-blackouts weekly. Maybe someday I'll work up to a year, just to clear my mind. Thank you, Einstein, for inspiring me to listen more closely to everything rolling around in my head.