Being Off-line: The New Luxury ?

Reading a book offline, can you still do it ?

Let's face it, we are all connected online and there is nothing wrong with it. Our lives have gotten easier to manage. Connecting with long lost friends and family on another continent is now a cinch.

What has become harder, is summoning up the will to take an hour ( or more ) and do something offline. Somehow there is always that feeling that we could miss out on something !

I know that even stopping the scroll down a News feed on any Social Media platform is not so easy. Who else feels like there might be a nugget of something just below the fold ? A friends update on their day, a silly picture or an interesting joke. Oh yes, clicking away from the news feed is far from easy...

Recently I have noticed that my ability ( mental stamina ) to read a novel has diminished. Frightening for me, as I used to be able to devour a novel in a weekend. Thoughts of aging and or brain shrinkage circled rather a lot when I couldn't even focus on reading one chapter of a good book ! What was going on ?

Ironically it was while I was connected online, that I stumbled across a wonderful blog post. A technology writer / blogger who had just completed a year off-line ( completely and totally off-line ). A must read by Paul Miller. This might calm a lot of worries about our ability to focus.

We all just have a bit too much on our plate. Online we juggle so many ' virtual ' balls that it is no wonder if we can't find the energy to focus off-line. When did you last play a board game with your family, have a meal without Smartphones or read a book ?

Taking a proper time-out ( just an hour or two ) from my online life has given me peace of mind and thankfully re-ignited my ability and love for reading books. Let's make reading off-line, a necessity of the last century a must have luxury of this century...

I would love to know if you also took longer than normal to finish a novel. Please drop me a comment ( online )...

Biggi