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Unplugging my Family

Most of this week, on vacation in Tennessee, we've been without cell service and barely have Internet service (it's really not all that bad ... frustrating at times would be a good way to phrase it).  This trip really got me thinking about our reliance on technology.

Finding time as a family ... minus all electronics (this one was handed to us). What a concept I have to look forward to ... Patrick who could care less and Jen who is lucky to check her email and phone once a week. I know ... what a surprise that this one scares me.

Working with computers and electronics since the age of ten, I would like to think that electronics do not control my life. I'd like to think I am in control of them ... yet, here I am writing a blog about the concept of integrating time off from electronics into the concept of family. I was (and am) the one that people call when they cannot figure out their electronics ... phone, TV, DVD, computer, and so on (it is my job).

Quality time ... without electronics.  These two statements are not mutually exclusive, but we have become a society connected to and by our devices. The app/social network/time that chews away at our lives ... that does not improve the quality of our lives (simply makes things faster ... so we can have more) ... needs a disconnect for a few hours, a day, a week, a month, or even better: unsubscribe. I am still waiting for the "paper-less society."

Hands-on, interactive activities should be normal and can be if family can be placed before electronic interaction.
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Location: Columbus, OH, USA

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