#DigitalDetox Meditation and Lockdown… NOPE!

This week's #DigitalDetox challenge was to meditate for 30 minutes. I tried... I honestly tried, but every time I thought about getting in the meditation challenge, there would be another distraction.

First, it would be the cat, who I swear had been given an energy pill and let loose on a sleeping household. Then it was the hubby, quickly followed by the son being evicted from his bedroom by the hubby working from home. And come the afternoon, it was the daughter and her online dance classes.

Yeah, it turns out that online dance classes (conducted over Zoom) are a thing. And there's only so much concentration that one can get while listening to fast jazz music while the teacher is shouting out the names of dance moves in French. (I so hope that none of that actually went into the client's manuscript I was editing at the time.)

When I tried to piece it all together, there just wasn't a nice window of opportunity. But I suppose that was this week's lesson.

Needing to make time

It always irritates me when someone gives the advice to others that you need to "make" time, like we have the ability to manipulate the clock and somehow make it go backwards for a short time or something. But if I've learned anything over the past year is that you need to prioritize the things that matter to you the most.

Which in a way is exactly what I did this week.

Every morning, I go for a walk. It's dark. It's 5 AM. And I make it happen. It's important to me that I continue to get that movement. And it's my time with myself, thinking about what is bothering me and what I need to do to make change happen. And when I get back home, it's butt in chair and I'm into writing. A couple of hours later, I shift to work things, and get on with it.

But for a brief time, just before lunch, I tend to go for another walk. I need the movement. I need the break from the house.

I make the time to get in some sort of fitness, because it's important to me. And I realized that I also need to make these #DigitalDetox challenges important to me too.

If I don't achieve one, I can't just stack it up. I need to refocus my efforts and make it happen. I'm learning things about myself during these challenges, and that learning is important.

So, I have chosen to redo the week, repeat this week's challenge for the coming week. And this time, I will do whatever I need to do to get in the 30 minutes to meditate—even if that means that I have to go outside and sit in the rain while my daughter has one of her online dance classes. It's not like I can write or edit while she's in one of those zoom sessions anyway.

A surprise benefit of my public challenges...

Last week, I mentioned that after two weeks of trying to write a someone a letter, I was giving up. Well...

The following day, out of the blue, I got a message from someone whom I hadn't spoken with in nearly 30 years: my brother. I honestly never thought I would hear from him again. I know that he's angry with our dad, but by extension, I thought that his anger included me, too. So, when I got the message suggesting that I write a letter to him (completing my #DigitalDetox challenge), I have to admit that I was a little cautious. But I was also excited.

And I have to admit that it was a brilliant suggestion.

One conversation—the first after nearly 30 years—is nowhere near enough to help bridge the gap between us, but it was a start. And I'm looking forward to rebuilding that relationship. I'm no longer the snot-nosed kid who used to tease him about walking into a pole while trying to say goodbye to all the girls sitting on the side of the pool. Instead, I'm now the snarky writer who takes great pleasure in torturing people on paper.

(Addendum (less than 1 week of the original post date): I went to send my brother a message, attempting to foster the connection, only to discover that his account was deactivated. It would appear that the profile was deleted. Here I was all excited about reforging a long-lost relationship, and nope... Oh well... If I'm meant to have contact with him, he will reach out again.)

Next week's challenge

If you haven't gathered from above, I'm giving Challenge #4 a redo. This means that the #DigitalDetox challenge for this week is once again meditate for 30 minutes. It does mean that the real challenge is to restructure my daily routine so I can make the medication time happen, but I will make it happen. Izza have a plan.

So, if you have any meditation tricks that you think I should be investigating, please let me know.

Are you taking part in the #DigitalDetox challenge with me? How is it going for you?