Have you noticed how horribly addicted we have become to the internet over the last 10 – 15 years? When the internet was first introduced the world laughed and said that the idea of the entire world becoming intimately and irreversibly connected to one another was absolutely preposterous. Look at us now. Nobody memorises phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries, addresses or even directions anymore. When I was young, if I had a question I looked it up in the library or asked an expert on the subject. These days we simply Google everything. It drives me raging mad when I ask a friend or colleague for help or an explanation and I get pointed back to Google or YouTube. I’m sorry, but I still believe in being taught by a real person through a proper conversation. I need to know that the other person really cares about teaching me something or my learning process.
Several years ago I did myself a favour and began observing Pyjama Days. I needed one day of the week where I didn’t have to dress up and face the world, and could stay home in my favourite PJs, old granny undies, and feel comfortable physically and emotionally. Now that I work full time, Pyjama Day has been moved to Sunday, and as much as possible, this is also my day of silence. Some people fast for religious reasons, I observe silence for emotional reasons.
Living alone and going through depression the last 10 months curtailed my social life to the point where I was terrified of social gatherings or meeting someone for dinner. I’m slowly, ever so slowly, coming out of that dark tunnel now, but I still keep my distance. During my isolation I turned to online movies and caught up on all the TV series I had missed while I was busy being a wife and mother. Netflix, Maxdome and Amazon Prime Video became my new best friends, and there was hardly a night where I would not watch something on one of these platforms, in addition to the assorted other local TV shows that can be found online. Last weekend I decided to pull the plug.
Sadness, exhaustion, intellectual hunger and nostalgia ganged up on me and told me it was high time to return to reading in the evenings. And they were right. Instead of binging on yet another series or getting engrossed in a movie marathon, I curled up with my cats and classical music to get totally lost in a Yorkshire murder. It felt wonderful! That old feeling of getting caught up with the characters and the plot was back and I experienced something I had almost forgotten – reluctance to put down the book.
FrogDiva Thoughts 
I think the internet and social media in general has done so much damage to those who suffer from depression. I like your idea of just unplugging and taking the tiem to relax with some music or a good book.
Thanks for the thoughts, and I agree completely about social media in particular. The internet has trapped us all in an evil web and we are prisoners of a bizarrely intricate system to the extent that we lose track of reality and the simple things in life
sometimes nothing beats a good old-fashioned movie, a bowl of popcorn and candles!
My husband is away on business this weekend, and I plan on doing just that!!