Hello Collegiettes! Not only am I saying goodbye to the internet for a whole month but, I’m also saying farewell to my phone, music AND social media. You must be wondering, “Why on Earth are you doing this? ” To be quite honest, I really don’t know. When people ask me, I can never really muster up an answer. Perhaps, I want to prove something to myself or maybe I want to see what affect this challenge will have on me. My professor introduced me to this challenge and when he was explaining it to my class, I was intrigued. I knew that there would advantages and disadvantages to accepting this test of endurance but, deep down, I was ready for it.
Where does this challenge come from?
It’s based on Erich Formm’s idea of pathology of normalcy and his theory of revealing the social defects.
In his book, The Sane Society, he explains, “Suppose that in our Western culture movies, radios, television, sport events and newspapers ceased to function for only four weeks. With these main avenues of escape closed, what would be the consequences for people thrown back upon their own resources? I have no doubt that even in this short time thousands of nervous breakdowns would occur, and many more thousands of people would be thrown into a state of acute anxiety, not different from the picture which is diagnosed clinically as ‘neurosis.’ If the opiate against the socially patterned defect were withdrawn, the manifest illness would make its appearance.”
Formm wrote this over 60 years ago, yet, during my first week of no Internet, I feel anxious about 75% of time and I fear that I’ll have a nervous breakdown, as he hypothesized.
What does this cleanse entail?
- I’m not able to use Internet. I am, however, allowing myself to use internet for either school or work but, I’ve blocked all social media websites including Netflix and YouTube. I’ve basically blocked all websites that I would normally spend 90% of my time on.
- I’m not allowed to use any forms of social media and the idea is to, instead, see people in person and create meaningful connections.
- I’m not able to use my iPod, iPad or any devices to listen to or to stream music, movies and videos. Instead, the original challenge suggested that I go see a play or a concert but, unfortunately, I can’t do that since I’m living on student budget.
- I’m not allowed to read any magazines or romance novels and, instead, am suppose to read a good book. With this in mind, I started reading Great Expectations.
- Finally, I’m not allowed to use my phone, but I’m allowing myself to use my phone to call my parents. Since I don’t live with them, they would freak out if I told them that I’m not calling them for a month.
On November 5th, most of my friends gathered for birthday and I decided to tell them then that I was doing this challenge.
At first they thought this was social media cleanse and didn’t think much of it. When I told them I wasn’t going to be using my phone to answer to calls or text messages, they were shocked. They had so many questions about the challenge itself and why on Earth I was doing it. I simply told them, my professor challenged the class and I accepted it the challenge.
Going on this cleanse means I won’t be carrying my phone on me because I know that if I do carry it, that I would be tempted to use it. Not having my phone means, not knowing what time it was which is especially difficult when there isn’t a clock or someone nearby. I remember, when I broke my phone a couple summers ago, it baffled me how distraught I was not knowing the time. So, I made sure to fix my mom’s old watch (i.e. changed the battery) so I would always know what time it was.
My professor explained that, during the first week on this cleanse, that people go through physical withdrawal symptoms because they don’t have their phones or access to the internet. So far I haven’t felt any prevalent symptoms but I do feel completely bored when I come home. I can’t scroll through my phone, I can’t contact my friends, I can’t even watch movies or catch up on TV shows. I just sit at my desk and stare at computer. It’s a weird feeling. I don’t know what to do with my time, or how to relax without going on my phone.
I can’t seem to figure how to pass time and, consequently, I keep eating. On the first day, I had to study since I had a midterm the next day. When I decided to take a break, I didn’t really know how to take a break without going on my phone or going on the internet. Instead, I ate and ate. I must’ve had 10 meals that day because, I wasn’t sure what else to do. During these 4 weeks, I’ll have to get used to going to the gym to avoid gaining too much weight!
During the first couple days of this challenge, I made plans to meet up with friends to prevent myself from spending all my time staring at a blank computer screen. I’ve never felt so anxious about meeting up with my friends in my life! I was terrified that they wouldn’t show up because they forgot, or that they cancelled and that I wouldn’t know because they couldn’t reach me. It’s like going on first dates but much worse because these people are my friends and it would be tragic if I got stood up by own friends.
Since, I can’t figure out how to pass my time, I keep taking naps. I’m not much of a nap-person but, now its something I do. With winter coming, it’s become even harder to go out because, somehow it’s cold again and when it’s cold, no one likes walking and the weather conditions make bussing a hassle.
Stay tuned for the second phase of this challenge; isolation.
Sources: Cover