Unplugged.

Chatted on the phone tonight with one of my best friends. Per her recommendation, I turned off my cell phone and disconnected from the world for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes. Although I was reading two lengthy [and might I add, boring] chapters for my grad class, I have never felt more alive and at peace. The only thing going in the background was music by a new favorite artist and the sound of my high lighter running across the pages of the book.

At 8:15pm, I succumbed to my inner itch and logged onto twitter for a minute ... but then I logged off again. And the revelation hit me - why not challenge myself to a two week social media hiatus. Or furthermore, to turning off my phone in the evenings and disconnecting from the world for a bit.

Our generation is CONSTANTLY connected to others. Constantly plugged in. But there's beauty in spending time alone for a few hours. No distractions. No interruptions. No fear of mission out. Just quality time with yourself - listening to your thoughts and spending your time doing an activity you like. Spending your time relaxing and catching a breather from the stresses of the day.

This challenge is going to be CRAZY difficult. But I owe it to myself ... to my health and happiness ... to take a time out. Social media right now has become my enemy. It's become a source of harm not happiness. So I pledge - effective January 22nd, 2014 - to stay off of social media for two weeks.

Text messaging and blogger are allowed. Snap chat may be too ha ha. But I am going to stay away from twitter, face book and instagram. And perhaps, I'll soon find that I do not really need to be plugged into those mediums anyway.