Internet fast.

I have decided to go on an Internet fast. I am posting this using e-mail so I don’t have to surf to my blog site. I am only using e-mail for business or communication. I was going to keep a journal offline, but then realized that others couldn’t benefit from my experience. So, online it goes.

I am very aware of the history and nature of the Internet. Been using it since the 80s. I think with the advent of the WWW, and the realization by the corporate world that is could be a moneymaker, it has been mostly downhill. There is a lot of great stuff out there, but the junk is added far more quickly than the good stuff.

Yes, the Internet is definitely a tool. It is a place to research, and a place to learn and gather with the like-minded in places like this. Everything I do with the Internet is useful in some way. Most of my online time, except at work, is spent at the Simple Living Network forums. The quality of the posts and the intellectual level of the posters are astounding. I just learn so much, even when there are disagreements.

Research I can do in books. I’m a librarian and work at the reference desk. Finding information is what we do, and knowing where to look is how we do it. I also find information in books to be more reliable than about 90% of what’s on the net. More accountability. Anybody can write anything on the net. While that it is also true of books, it is a little more difficult to get it published, especially with the case of reference sources.

When I’m online but I am not on the Simple Living Network forums, I am researching some wild notion or banking or reading news or listening to an interesting program. I don’t really consider any of my online time wasted. I’m not really sure I’m even doing too much. I don’t want to stop doing something just because it is fun. At the same time, I also don’'t want to keep doing something just because it is fun. There are a lot of things out there that can be fun and meaningful at the same time. Riding my bike, working in my garden, doing my finances, etc.

It also isn’t just about the time I actually spend online, but the time I spend thinking about things I encountered online. One of the really nice things I noticed when I stopped watching television was that it was easier to be in The Now. I stopped thinking about programs I had seen recently, and stopped “seeing” television pictures in my head. This is a phenomenon whether I watch 5 hours a week or 50. I was able to think about what I was doing or experiencing at that moment.

Now, I notice that I think about the SLN forum and other things online when I should be thinking about what I am experiencing at the moment. When I’m riding my bike in the early morning in the park, I’m not thinking about the way the wind feels against my skin, or how the leaves on the tree look as I zoom past, or the beautiful sunrise. I’m thinking about online things. Same when I’m working in my garden and should be thinking about the feel of the cool earth or contemplating the maturing vegetables, or with my wife and should be listening to her and thinking about what she is saying.

Fasting, for me, is partly spiritual, partly intellectual. I use it to clean my system, and to experience a difference to see what happens. I don’t really know that my fast will reveal anything at all. But when I stopped watching television, I suddenly found more time on my hands than I would have predicted. There were even emotional and physiological changes, such as mentioned above. I want to see what I experience from my Internet fast.

But a month? Sunday my ISP went down for the whole day. While I don’t really notice when I am on vacation or visiting family, I certainly did then! I’m not sure a full month is really wise. Might be biting off more than I can chew. I like the idea of one day a week on a regular basis, but that isn’t enough time for me to truly test it thoroughly or to change my thought patterns.

So, I’ll start with a day, try for a week and see how that goes. I’ll keep this journal. I will continue to use the Internet at work, but only when I must do so to order books or other work related things.

My fast began August 3, 2005.