Digital Sabbath

I started my Digital Sabbath on Friday the 17th at 3:00pm and ended on Saturday the 18th at 7:30pm. It was difficult for me to not use technology at all and I actually did not succeed in going for 24 hours straight which is why I added a little extra time to the next day. I went away to Raleigh this weekend for a retreat and felt it would be an appropriate time to not use technology and to instead bond with the people around me. My younger sister is a freshman at UNC-Greensboro and on the way to Raleigh we stopped at a Steak and Shake in Greensboro to eat. I had to use my phone to call my sister to see if she would come and eat with us. Other than that it was not too difficult to stop using technology once I had gotten started. I had a lot of fun and was able to spend time with people without looking at my phone. I had a dance party in the car on the way to Raleigh with my friends. It was so much fun. I hung out with some of my best friends, my boyfriend and made new friends while on this retreat. I made a late night run to Cook-Out with some friends and then went on a walk with one of my best friends. I tried to sleep but it was hard to get sleep when sleeping on a hard floor, so I woke up extremely tired. After waking up me, my boyfriend and some of our friends went to a local mall and had fun. We went shopping at many different stores and shopped around. We went to Barnes & Noble, American Eagle, Charming Charlie and ate pizza. We read and looked at several books in Barnes & Noble. We looked at a lot of jewelry in Charming Charlie and I made some purchases there and at American Eagle. We left the mall and went back to where we were staying. I threw the football around with my boyfriend and my friends. I ended up hurting my shoulder and had to ice it. I then helped a friend with a video by playing a part in it. Overall I had an enjoyable time not using digital technology. It showed me that I can have more fun without a phone on me at all times. I felt freer. I was not checking my phone every few minutes to see if I had gotten a text. Not being able to use technology made it hard to plan things such as seeing my sister, which is why I used my phone. It also made it hard for people to get in touch with me. I had a friend text me while at the mall to see where I was and I did not get the text until much later. This project has made me appreciate technology all the more and made me realize I rely far too much on it. I need to use my phone less for sure. I was able to really talk to people and not be interrupted. It was refreshing to not have a piece of technology on me at all times. It made me be more resourceful and creative as well as my friends. It also reminded me of how much we rely on technology to help us. I relied on technology to help me reach my sister. I rely on technology everyday and I do not think technology is all bad. Like anything too much of a good thing is a bad thing. So, too much technology is bad. I think a project like this teaches moderation and opens your eyes to the privilege you have. I am a Secondary History, Social Studies Major and I hope to potentially teach a Sociology class one day. This would be a great experiment to implement, especially with a generation of kids who are going to rely on technology more than we do. I feel it is important to teach people that technology is good but we do not need to be obsessed and addicted to it.

I watched some kids play basketball with my friends. They were around 5-9 years of age and they were adorable to watch. Some of the kids were too little to grasp the concepts of the game but others were really good at playing. It was nice to see kids being encouraged in the direction of sports rather than video games.

I threw the football around with my boyfriend and friends. I got a little to competitive and threw a little too hard with a hurt shoulder and ended up hurting my shoulder even worse. I had to ice it and only got relief when my shoulder finally popped back into place. I learned my lesson and didn't throw anything for the rest of the weekend.

We stopped at a Steak 'n Shake in Greensboro. This is when I broke my digital sabbath because I ended up calling my sister. I didn't get to see her long because she got confused about where I was and ended up arriving late. It was nice to just get a hug from her though. So, I am glad I broke my sabbath for that.

I slept on the floor in a sleeping bag the entire weekend. Well, tried to sleep might be a better description. I realized I am not the little kid that can and loves to sleep on the floor anymore. I am so sore from my shoulder injury and from sleeping on a hard floor. I seriously contemplated sleeping outside on the ground cause it would have been softer.

It was an entertaining car ride. It was a long car ride and I was in the back seat with two of my girlfriends and my boyfriend was up front with one of our guy friends. We had a dance party in the car and were jamming out to the music...well us girls were. The boys mostly talked. Our motto for the car ride was "Business in the front, party in the back."

I went to Walmart with some friends to get supplies to help make a video. It was fun getting to play a part in a video and be able to act out different things. It was a great bonding experience too and showed a positive side to digital technology

This is me and some of my friends that I went shopping with at the mall. We had just finished shopping at Charming Charlie and were really hungry and ready to eat. We went and ate some pretty delicious pizza and some pretty good lunch conversations.

This is me and one of my friends at Charming Charlie. We made some pretty good purchases and found a really good sale. It was a good girl-bonding experience.

My friend and I decided to read a book about family pet pictures. It was a really humorous book and had a lot of hilarious pictures. It was nice to just sit down with a book.

This was at the mall in a shop full of digital technology. All of my friends played with the stuff while I watched. They thought it would be fun to taunt me. It was very entertaining.