Blog Post 13

My E-Media Fast was, altogether, not too difficult, even though I failed it once. I began my fast on Saturday, at eight in the morning. I got up, showered, made a sandwich, and immediately failed. Usually, I turn on the TV when I make and eat breakfast, because I don't like to read while I eat. I did it without thinking, and it was only after I had finished eating that I realized what I'd just done.

After that, I was very careful about making sure everything I did was well within the rules. I did make an exception, though. Our house has no land line so I use my cellphone to talk to people. Therefore I made the exception that I could use my cellphone, but only for calls, no text messages. Luckily, over the course of the day, I didn't have to call anyone and no one called me, and I received no texts, so I may as well not have made the exception at all. This was not difficult in the least, as you can tell. I hardly use my cell phone anyways. It's a simple phone, that doesn't do the internet and doesn't have games to play (Pictured right: my actual phone and all its options). Like a more modern Nokia.

I filled my day with activities so I wouldn't be tempted. I went to a book sale at the library in the morning with a friend, finished a book and started another, and went to work almost all day. I got off work at about 9 o'clock, and that's when it became difficult to resist the call of my computer.

I usually get on the computer after work, and I wanted to get on it even more to check my email because I was expecting a reply from a group-mate for Project 15. Instead I hung out with my aforementioned friend. The only problem was he was tempting me with technology. We've been watching the series Game of Thrones on his computer, and we both really wanted to watch more, but of course I couldn't. That didn't stop him from doing his best to tempt me, saying things like, "Come on, thirteen hours is long enough, don't you think?" Thankfully, I resisted, and instead we just hung out and I read a little until he left, after which I went to sleep, thus ending the fast.

It was a little difficult, and would have been worse if I had planned to do this on a day when I had nothing to do. I rely on technology a bit more than I thought, since my friend and I often just watch movies or shows or play games when we hang out. It's expensive to go out and actually do things, and cheaper to stay in and entertain yourself with what you have on hand--which is often technology.

I'm addicted to technology, I know, but not as bad as some people, like my little brother, who plays Xbox if he's not eating, sleeping, or at school. I suppose people like my brother are the kind of students I'll have--kids who feel like they can't go a day without some kind of electronic device on hand to provide some entertainment. I have an advantage, since when I was a kid computers weren't as important--I actually went outside and played with other children. But as technology has advanced, I've become more dependent. I can only hope I can turn my student's inevitable fascination to my advantage in the future.