for the generation before me, it’s what we did to a machine. an appliance.

my mom would go a step further and unplug everything before going on a trip.

{somehow it was safer. mom, really?!}

now we, humans, those of us, who are “connected” socially and virtually,

are told by health experts and our family members to do what machines have been doing for years.

to unplug. apparently, i’m not the only one who benefits from such an act.

books are written about it, warnings are given, and it comes up in our conversations about being too busy.

the funny thing is that i find myself tweeting and instagramming for the sole purpose of letting the outside world in.

into every minute of my day. and night.

i find myself thinking in status updates and, heaven forbid, if an hour goes by and i haven’t refreshed several apps to see the latest stories and most recent pictures.

who am i to think that i lose followers or drop in rank in the blogosphere if i fail to post or tweet?

as if taking care of three active boys isn’t enough, i find it ironic that i escape my hectic life for pockets of minutes throughout the day and enter into someone else’s vacation or glamorous life via instagram and facebook.

maybe you don’t have my problem. maybe it’s something else that steals the precious minutes in the day.

ridiculously pinning to boards.

addicted to craigslist.

redesigning your home over and over again in your mind out of discontentment.

shopping to get a fix.

playing out scenarios of a better life other than the one you’ve been given.

i can’t say this is proven, but one thing i know to be true, is that my world doesn’t cave in when i don’t show up in twitter or instagram or facebook. remarkably, the world keeps spinning.

and when i unplug {disconnect my thoughts and energy from the virtual and social world} i am more plugged into reality.

and though me and the boys took a trip to the mountains where wi-fi was as shaky as the pebbles beneath our feet, i promise you that i was back on-line when we returned to the city. i’m not giving it up completely. i’m simply learning to be present in reality more than i’m present virtually. 

just the simple act of shutting down my computer on thursday night with no plans of booting up the next day.

jotting down thoughts, to-do’s, down on a notepad rather than grabbing my phone and getting sucked into checking everything else.

giving myself a few times a day to enter other people’s worlds. making sure i’ve engaged the worlds of my boys first and foremost.

because the truth is this. i love living unplugged. {i’m still going to write here and like your pictures though}

but, i love not having that phone in my hand and instead having 5 little fingers grip tightly as we hike the trails together.

i mean, who can resist? resist dirt on the nose.

the challenge of making it another few yards or across the creek.

of speaking into the lives of those with whom i have the most influence.

i love what you post. what you tweet. how you’re gifted. how you’re being used.

i love hearing your stories, your ideas, how you’re living out the Gospel.

i love being connected to you virtually.

and i love, love the pictures. they paint a thousand words, don’t they?

but you and i both know that the best part of life is experiencing it personally and up close. the way God carved out that moment just for you.

so let’s unplug when needed. maybe now’s the time or tonight after dinner. maybe it’s putting the phone to sleep by the bedside for a few hours.

civilization will come as it did for us when we left the mountains. the 4-5 bars appear in the upper lefthand corner. but the best stories, the best pictures lie among the rocks, the creek bank, the meadow, the sky of four shooting meteorites.

and the benefit of being unplugged is that you and i get the best. you and i don’t miss out on what we are supposed to see. what we are supposed to experience.

no. for then we are plugged in.

while i’m enjoying the start of the summer with my kids, i’m so glad to bring you some of my favorite posts. i’ll be back with new and fresh posts in july. but while i’m away, i’ll be instagramming our june stories and replying to any comments here.