By Joran Slane Oppelt
“Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals, if he is able to think, if he is able to wait, if he is able to fast.”
—Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
It wasn’t even my idea. It was my seven-year-old daughter, Alchemy, who suggested it.
“Daddy, let’s go a week without watching TV!”
Her mother, Jennifer, and I had just finished our second juice cleanse of the year, and I think Alchemy was caught up in all the cleansing and fasting and wanted somehow to be a part of it all. She got no argument from us. In fact, we had just been commenting on her ability to lose herself for hours in the ridiculous time-suck that is the “EZ Bake Oven” app on her iPad.
Recognizing the opportunity to break myself of that nasty texting-and-driving habit, I suggested we also incorporate devices and apps (like Facebook and Twitter) into the mix. Since Alchemy didn’t have access to these, she was cool with it.
So, here are the fast and not-so-loose ground rules for our Seven Day Media Cleanse: 1) No TV, 2) No apps, 3) No Internet. This meant no Facebook, Twitter, Netflix or Hulu and (voluntarily) included iTunes and streaming audio services (we use Beats).
For seven days, we listened to vinyl at home and had only work-related access to e-mail and Google Drive. We had dinner at the dining room table, said a short blessing before the meal, and enjoyed facing each other, talking and laughing. I endured deafening and cathartic silence on my morning and evening commute; my bag rode in the back seat. I rarely touched my phone, a stark contrast to the usual relationship I have with the device—a constant need to click and fondle, the straining of the eyes to scrutinize and decipher it’s small type, and the panic when it’s not immediately within reach. I was not exposed to any on-screen advertising; pop-up, in-line or e-mail notifications; marketing messages; in-app upgrade opportunities; pornographic images or news feeds.
To hear it told, you’d think I was an obsessive and domineering partner. But that’s how we behave when we are fixated. That’s how we act when we are addicted.
The effects of the cleanse were dramatic and the benefits were clear—I was calmer, more level-headed, more focused, less prone to distraction and, in the last couple days, felt a palpable happiness that was like a warmth throughout my body. I got current with my family and was more conversational with strangers.
Going forward, a media cleanse should be considered a serious part of our regular sacred fasting traditions (Lent, Ramadan, Maha Shivaratri). As with any dietary cleanse, the conditions are not universal, and it would not be the same (nor necessarily recommended) for everyone. However, the results consistently indicate that a more routine management of exposure to these types of media continues to yield significant benefits—including stress reduction, increased productivity, heightened overall well-being and, most importantly, a sense of actual connectedness to those around us.
Like any tool or prosthetic, if we allow the virtual web and our various devices to be a substitute for our own real hardware (body), software (mind) or GPS (soul), we risk confusing our partial experience of the Universe for the bigger picture. We risk confusing the technosphere with what Pierre Teilhard De Chardin called the “noösphere.” And we risk the atrophy and loss of the latter for the former. Empathy, or the ability to feel subtle emotional and energetic shifts around us, will never develop as long as we are looking at a screen to find out how our friends and community are “feeling.” Like the human bodies used as batteries in the film The Matrix, we risk being a “wet cell,” plugged into a larger machine that relies on us to survive.
We risk never actually living ourselves. We risk everything.
Now, It’s Your Turn
Are you interested in organizing or participating in a group media cleanse? Are you interested in cutting down your device (or social media) time, but not committing to a full seven days or more?
Try these tips to break you of your old habits.
Get some distance. Charge your phone across the room at night—don’t be tempted to check any feeds before you’re fully awake. Place your phone out of reach while driving—either in the back seat or trunk. Try silence on the car radio and see how it feels.
Put your phone away when you’re eating. If you’re with someone who is constantly checking updates on their phone, simply look them in the eye and initiate some conversation.
Go hands-free! Use a headset when on the phone. The less you touch and fondle the device, the more you will reduce your compulsive and tactile attachment to it. And some argue that it’s just plain healthier.
Disrupt Your Routine. Remove links and shortcuts to sites like Facebook and Twitter from your bookmarks and favorites. Keep a tally of the amount of times you unconsciously try to click on something that’s no longer there.
If the idea of a cleanse or fast seems too radical or drastic for you, then simply try to be more aware of your behavior involving these screens, devices, apps, and software. By constantly weeding and pruning your apps, newsletters, feeds, network, (and yes, even friends), you are engaging in a conscious personal development. You are developing a higher and more acute level of “infotention” (a word penned by futurist Howard Rheingold). And you are affirming that you are no longer the same person you were when you subscribed to the “Southern Women’s Turkey Meatball Recipes” e-newsletter back in 2011.
1) Unsubscribe to any e-newsletters that have become irrelevant or impractical. Don’t passively mark them as spam or delete them. Actively unsubscribe.
2) Unfollow any people, brands, personalities, or accounts that you no longer enjoy or find authentic. People change, inside and out. And your favorites, lists, and feeds are a direct reflection of you, your tastes, and interests. Delete and deny access to any unused or extraneous apps that you have allowed access to your social media accounts.
3) Unfriend. That’s right, I said it. I don’t care if they’re family. If that cousin of yours and his political or religious views are causing you undue stress or distraction, unfriend him. You’ll still be related by blood, and you can still pick up the phone if you need to tell him you love him.
Be present, do the work. and move on.
Joran Slane Oppelt is a blogger, musician, interfaith minister, marketer, chaplain, public speaker, father, event producer, husband, and facilitator—not necessarily in that order. Joran is the founder of the Integral Church in St. Petersburg, FL, and has spoken at many colleges and conferences such as South by Southwest in Austin, TX. Integral Church is an interfaith community that encourages individuals to create their own personal transformative practice, using the tools and teachings from the world’s major wisdom traditions in a pluralistic and sacred environment. For more information, follow @joranslane on Twitter or visit integralchurch.org, where you can find the unabridged, daily journal of this Seven Day Media Cleanse, plus more information on cleanses, meditations and other tools for transformation.
This article is a chapter from the book Transform Your Life! written by 60 real-life heroes and experts and available at Amazon.com, BN.com, www.Transformation-Publishing.com and all ebook formats.