Where Have You Been?

This past week I have been a bit quiet - At least on the blogging front. It actually began with a really bad week with one thing happening after another - A run around with our bank (who will soon become ex-bank), a loss of monthly income, politics within a small organization, the weather, a tsunami, an earth-quake, nuclear fall-out...  I know, very little of the last of that actually effected me personally, however it was dragging me down. I was feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders and it was making me crazy.

We all have these feelings; Once in a while, whatever is going on around us drags us down. Pulling us into a place that makes us slightly crazy and especially effects our families.

I just didn't want to feel that way. I couldn't take any more in, but unless I could travel to a remote part of the world without any media influences, what could I do?

It was much simpler than I had imagined. I just shut off the media. I watched limited television, vowed to not visit Facebook, and for a week just let myself be. I did Tweet about a few events and activities that I ran across, but I didn't write much and I didn't visit Facebook at all.

It wasn't as hard as I had imagined. It was only about the 4-5 day when I found myself posting status updates in my mind that I realized I missed social outlet. So what did that week give me? Reprieve. Quiet from the media buzz. And it probably gave me back many minutes of time where I would have otherwise been absorbed in someone else's troubles, elation's or lives.

I missed my friends, but I loved my family and know they need me more. I even found the time to reach a novel about a major earthquake. Reading it didn't even take me back to what I had been feeling. It was just nice to let go and do something for myself.

So when life seems to be getting a bit much, take a break. Step back and turn off the television. Exit out of your social network. DO whatever it is you need to reclaim a little bit of the insanity each of us takes in - It's a beautiful thing, and really very rejuvenating.