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#DigitalDetox Challenges 7 and 8: I didn’t know about that app…
For the past week, I’ve been working on two different #DigitalDetox challenges: write a poem and try a new food.
While writing a poem was a challenge, trying a new food was not. I seem to try new foods almost on a weekly basis, anyway. Yes, I have my favorites, and yes, I can be a creature of habit, but we’re talking about food here. I love exploring new flavors.
So, while the “try a new food” challenge was in a way instinct and already built into my psyche, I did have to work at writing a poem. And while doing so, I discovered an app that I didn’t know that existed on my phone.
The #DigitalDetox Poem
#DigitalDetox number 7 was to write a poem. I’ll detail my feelings about how the week went with this challenge in another post, but for the moment, I thought I would share with you the poem that was created.
It’s not a masterpiece by no stretch of the word, but it’s not a disaster either. However, there was a theme to it that sort of shows where my mental mindset is at the moment.
It was written while I was driving, using the dictation app that I discovered on my phone.
Enjoy.
Time Management and Procrastination
It happens to the best of us at times. We know what it is that we need to get done, but…
“Oh, look… Something shiny!”
Writers joke about this ALL THE TIME, because we all do it. We get to a certain point within our manuscripts and that shiny, new idea calls to us, distracting us. But sometimes, this phenomenon happens in our everyday lives, too.
That’s what happened to me this week. I found myself procrastinating in a big way, avoiding all the tasks that I was meant to be doing.
I know it. I recognize it. I own it. It is what it is.
But for the #DigitalDetox challenge, that means a repeat for the week. But I’ve taken a sneak peak at the challenge ahead, and I can easily fit that one in too, and the only reason I say this… It’s try a new food.
Seriously, a challenge with trying a new food is going to be so easy! I love eating. And I love exploring the different foods out there. I do it ALL THE TIME! So, I’ve elected to twist it, doing something that I already do, but pushing myself.
#DigitalDetox Challenge 6: Walk up a hill
I’m not going to lie: I was nervous about this one. I was really looking forward to it, but I wasn’t certain if my knee was going to hold out long enough for me to complete it.
Well…
I was sore the next day, that’s for sure, but I did it and it felt good. It gives me hope that my husband and I might be able to return to a joint passion — at least in some capacity.
Let me give you some of the history.
#DigitalDetox Challenge 5, and I’d like to forget the week
Each of these #DigitalDetox challenges are meant to be a way for me to explore a part of myself that has been long forgotten. Not only am I doing things that disconnect me from the internet world, even for a short time, but I’m also doing some activities that I had once done and no longer do for whatever reason.
This last week has been an emotional roller coaster. I started the week with the pressure of trying to finish an editorial contract (a big job), but we were still under Level 3 lockdown (more on that below). Other tasks were piling up, and the energy was gone. And I knew I needed to put the #DigitalDetox challenge into the mix, so I forced myself.
This week’s challenge was to draw a self-portrait. I’m not artistic in the visual sense, so unless I wanted to resort to drawing stick figures, I chose another approach.
Instead of creating a visual self-portrait, I chose to create a literary self-portrait. I won’t be sharing the literary self-portrait with the world, but it was an interesting exercise.
#DigitalDetox Challenge 4: Meditate for 30 Minutes
It’s the second week at attempting this challenge and I can honestly say that I’m now eating slower.
Yep, you read that right: eating slower.
I know it sounds odd, but I found a meditation practice that is performed while eating. And I like it!
Even as I write that, I’m giggling at the bizarre nature of that statement, but it turns out that meditation is the practice of focused breathing. There is no reason why it should be performed sitting in the lotus position with your eyes closed and doing absolutely nothing for hours on end. Meditation actually comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s just a matter of working out what forms of meditation work best for the individual.