Dreaming of a Screen-Freer Future

I not only survived, I thrived during Screen-Free Week. I can tell by my dreams. The last few nights of my screen freedom yielded some of the most spectacular dreams I’ve had in a long time. Friday night I was literally flying around town with an air-powered jet pack, sharing my environmentally-friendly transportation invention with interested onlookers. Saturday night I giddily watched a performance by a couple who erupted from an organized sit-down dinner into a colorful, acrobatic dance. My mind at rest could suddenly imagine the bizarre and the beautiful, flight and frolic. I attribute my dream renaissance to several days of living uninterrupted by screen media’s barrage.

My waking experience of Screen-Free Week was not quite as surreal, though the first few days did induce a kind of vertigo.While using the internet for work, I found myself impulsively clicking over to Facebook and Twitter. I’d get to the log-in page and realize, startled, that I wasn’t supposed to be there. I’d navigate away, but before too long there I was again, staring at the request for a user name and password. Monday after work I had plans with family, so I wasn’t enticed by screens, but Tuesday night was a different story. I was really tired by 7PM and all I seemed to be able to think about was not being able to turn on the television and zone out. It reminded me of the time I tried to quit coffee and, as my head pounded, all I could imagine was how a cup of joe would be a quick cure and how delicious it would taste. Except Tuesday night the thought that consumed me was how easily I could click the TV on and how mindlessly I could watch it. Thankfully, this was the low point of my week.

The rest of my days without screens were wonderful. I had dinner with my college roommate, filled an entire box of books to donate, and spent a great weekend with my family in New Hampshire. My first night in the mountains my aunt, grandmother and I chatted while my 11-year-old cousin Nate and I played a game of “spot the differences between the photos” we found in some of my nana’s old magazines. Saturday my family ventured to find a country pancake house (well, more like barn) of which we’d heard rumors. The local maple syrup was worth the windy ride. Later that day, my aunt Melissa and I explored my family’s old camp in the woods and made preliminary plans to give it new life this summer. Luckily I’m not a hockey fan, or else sitting next to the TV reading while my family watched the Bruins game might have been tough, but all in all I was happily surprised by the ease of ditching screens for a week.

Today is my third day back on screens. I haven’t remembered a single dream since I plugged back in. But that may be a short-term effect of my return to screen-mediated life, because my relationship to screens has changed. I’ve not updated my personal Facebook status, nor have I tweeted. The TV has stayed off. These activities just don’t feel as essential as they used to. I’m looking forward to all of the time I’ll spend away from screens this year imagining and revitalizing our little cottage in the woods—which will, of course, be screen-free.
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Compulsory Screens—and Screen-Compulsions

I broke my Screen-Free Week pledge within 60 minutes of waking up on the first day—by walking into the gym. After drifting into my usual exercise-induced trance, I startled awake to find myself reading a news crawl on one of the eight wall-mounted televisions, each tuned to a different station.

That prepared me, however, for the coming week. I was going to have to be vigilant not just about the screens I chose to give up, but about screens over which I have no control. I did pretty well—and I’m proud of it.

The truth is that my hopes about reading more, taking time to do nothing, and going to the circus didn’t materialize—a death in the family had me on a plane to Detroit and spending time with several generations of cousins. I found myself wondering if grief exempted me from Screen-Free Week—or if being cut off from email during the day meant that I could check it at night—despite my pledge that I wouldn’t. I decided to stick to my promises to myself—and here’s what I learned:

• After four hours offline I start going through withdrawal. I don’t break out in a sweat, but I feel vaguely antsy, anxious and disconnected. That got better as the week progressed.
• It is really hard for me to be in the presence of a screen without watching it—and watching is automatic. I discovered this not only at the gym, but when I walked into a room where a five year old was watching the Berenstain Bears (I don’t even like the Berenstain Bears—but there I was for a minute or two watching them until I remembered what week it was).
• It’s difficult to avoid Facebook even when I’m not on it. Postings on Facebook came up in conversation among my cousins several times a day. Question: If someone repeats a Facebook post to you verbatim is that a violation of Screen-Free Week?
• I am grateful for friends on the West Coast whom I could call late at night—a time when I’m most vulnerable to screens. And it was lovely to connect to them really instead of virtually.
• It’s helpful to have rules.
  

I also confirmed something I long suspected—for me, screen time isn’t really relaxing. Reading relaxes me. So does walking, and good conversation with friends and family.

And it was great to get on top of what I’m pretty sure is a compulsion if not an addiction. I’m about to go away for two weeks, and while I’m gone I’m going to figure out a set of rules for myself for all year round.

P.S. My cousin Jordan threatened to photoshop and post a picture of me glued to a screen during SFW. So if you see one, it’s fake. Honest. Read more!