Time to unplug?

When I was six my parents bought about 7 acres in rural Maryland, not far from the Pennsylvania state line.  The land was raw.  My parents cleared an area for our house to be built, but a lot of the property remained wooded and untamed.  Let me explain what I mean by rural.  We had neighbors, but there was some distance between us.  We were 15 or 20 minutes from both Westminster, MD and Hanover, PA.  Not metropolises, but you could find grocery stores, gas stations, clothing stores, entertainment, etc.  We actually had what I would consider a "general store" about five minutes away that served as our convenience store.  On our land we kept pigs, a goat, a few dogs, a duck (until it was eaten by the pigs, very tragic), a rabbit and other various and sundry insects and animals.  We had a small garden with corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelon, peppers, etc.  We had a stream running down one side of our property.  We did not have cable television.  Trash pick-up day involved putting the trash in our pick-up and taking it to the dump.

My brother and I entertained ourselves by exploring the woods, playing with the dogs or riding bikes.  We had a rope swing over the stream.  I was in the 4-H, cub scouts and little league baseball.  I learned to trap turtles to keep as pets.  When we moved from the house after about two years, we had forged a series of paths through once untamed woods.  We forged our "own" paths.

My son Zachary is now about the age that I was when we lived in this house.  Here is how we compare.  We have two immediate neighbors.  Their houses are both within 10 feet of our property line.  We have a basketball hoop in the driveway, a trampoline and play-set in the backyard.  We have a big screen TV, a Wii, Nintendo DS and four computers that are internet ready (one belonging to Zach).  We have seasons passes to Carowinds (an amusement park) and YMCA membership, mainly for use of their outdoor pool and water-park.  He has tried baseball, but prefers football.

Where am I going with this?  I don't know exactly.  As a busy, harried and often stressed parent of 4, modern technologies can often provide a much needed break.  But a lifetime spent plugged in seems like a bit of a waste.  I could care less how long Lindsay Lohan's jail sentance is or where LeBron James is going to play basketball next year ... but with that being said I do know about Lindsay and I will know about LeBron.  For some reason I feel like I need to know and I do care.  I don't want to care.  I don't want my children to care.

Our society has evolved into a 24/7/365 media machine, fueled by TV, internet, mobile phones, blogs, tweets, status updates, diggs, and on and on.  We are told what is important instead of learning from our families or finding out for ourselves.

Now a little truth telling (conviction bearing).  My life can revolve around the modern technologies.  I enjoy TV.  A lot.  The radio is constantly on in the car (music or talk).  I read the news everyday on The Drudge Report, Fox News, AP, ESPN and Yahoo.  I have multiple e-mail accounts, a Facebook account and of course this blog.  I let my children watch more TV than I probably should.  Zach had an e-mail account and a facebook page.  It seems that I am grooming him to follow right along in my digitally enhanced footprints.

I am an addict.  I am an addict to the consumption of information.  Information that when broken down to its simplest level has little to no bearing on my life or the lives of my family.  I have been addicted to other things before.  Cigarettes.  I was able to kick that habit.  Eating.  Still struggle with that one, but I am better than I have been in the past.  Golf.  Well, budgetary and time constraints kind of took care of that one.

They say the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.  Well then, "My name is Steve and I am addicted to using modern technology to aid in the consumption of seemingly useless information."  I am still working on the steps after that one, a cool acronym and a way to advertise it without feeling  like a total hypocrite.

I want to get back to a simpler day, when I looked at the forest in front of me, picked a spot and blazed my own trail.  When I had the imagination and the willingness to explore with fervor.  Most importantly, that is what I want my children to do.  I don't want them to see obstacles, but opportunities.  I want them to do things because they believe in them and it is right ... not just because it is the cool, hip or trendy thing to do.  I want them to make an impact on the world, not be consumed by it.  They have their whole lives in front of them and want them to forge their "own" paths, just as we did on that 7 acre tract of land in rural Maryland.