We just got back from a refreshing vacation along the shores of Lake Michigan and I only briefly missed the fact that I had poor cell phone reception, no internet connection and was unable to get TV or radio news for days.
I reflected on how we change our daily expectations and routines when we are on vacation. Sleeping late, lazing around in pj’s on the cottage deck, enjoying leisurely meals, savoring each others company, taking more walks, doing things that bring joy and not wanting to rush are the priorities. Multi-tasking and feeling pressure from obligations seem like unhealthy things to do. They do not belong here.
I saw this video clip last night from Sunjay Gupta entitled “Is Technology Making Us Dummer?” It is about a group of neuroscientists who abandoned technology for five days and immersed themselves in nature. They were experimenting with the notion promoted in great literature by Thoreau and Muir, that getting away and into nature does have restorative effects for our brains and that may even be essential for our brain to take a break from constant activity.
My promise to myself is to try and allow myself “vacation privileges” sometime each day to try and stay connected to the bliss that comes from dis-connecting. This may be turning my computer OFF, allowing myself to just “be” without having to feel obligated to “do” or just remembering to do something that brings me joy and nourishment.
Have you found ways to bridge the gap between dis-connecting from the everyday demands and connecting to a more sacred space?
Mary Byrne Eigel 
Wonderful post and thanks for sharing the link from Sunjay Gupta.
This is a topic that I’ve talked about on my blog, as well.
I think people can get lost in technology and before they know it, hours, days, weeks have gone by without the joys of being in balance – without technology. The ironic thing is that technology, by its very nature, seems to create a sense of urgency; that if you’re not connected you’re going to miss something.
Thanks for stopping by, I love your blog. It really can be a love/hate relationship. I think technology can bring a lot to those who have physical limitations. But it is so important to take a time out. And to remember it serves us, we do not serve it.
Definitely, technology is a boon to people who have disabilities.
Marshall McLuhan, said something similar: “We shape our tools and they in turn shape us…”
(http://www.regent.edu/acad/schcom/rojc/mdic/mcluhan.html)
Well, walking away from this bit of technology to go and read…a real book!