Given that class is in session, being without sources of media would cause me to fall behind in my studies. Therefore, a twenty-four hour media fast was out of the question. However, I have done this twice in the past. The first time was a four-day voluntary religious retreat with my high school. The second occurrence ensued unexpectedly in the mountains of Maine.
Last year I attended a Roman Catholic high school called Pope John Paul II. At Pope John Paul II High School, it is a tradition that every year the senior class goes on a mysterious week-long religious retreat called Kairos. I was told nothing about the retreat other than the fact that I could not bring computers, cell phones, IPods, books, magazines, or any other kind of electronic or paper bound resource. The retreat was designed to get rid of all distracting sources of media so you could focus on yourself and the people around you.
It honestly was a lot more fun than I would have thought. At first, being excluded from the outside world was difficult. You almost don’t know what to do with yourself. After the first day, it actually felt quite nice not having to worry about issues that don’t pertain to your life. Being cut off from all sources of media made it feel like you were in your own little world and since everyone at the retreat was also cut off, no news from the outside could get in. Instead of being wired in to a cell phone or computer, people spent their time talking to one another face-to-face rather than through fingers on phones. Being cut off like that makes you more aware of a lot of things around you. It also allowed me to get to know people I hadn’t ever talked to even though I had been attending the same school as them for four years. Some of the people I met on that trip have become some of my closest friends.
When I got home from the retreat, using my phone and computer felt really weird. I attempted to continue the media fast for a few more weeks, but unfortunately being a teenager in this day and age the odds were stacked against me. I couldn’t withstand the desire to reconnect for very long. I attempted to stop texting and only use my phone to make calls, but the habit eventually seeped back into my daily life and I was once again addicted. I also tried to only use my computer as a resource for school, but like texting, my habit eventually resurfaced. However, I was able to successfully delete my Facebook account and I reached my goal of going without it for four whole months.
After I graduated high school, my family and I traveled to Maine for a vacation. For the first three days we decided to drive to the mountains and stay in a cabin on a river. I remember being in the car texting my girlfriend when all of a sudden I lost service. We were an hour away from our destination and cell phone service was nowhere to be found. The cabin we stayed in was in the middle of the woods at the base of a river. It had a television but when we turned it on, there was noting but static. We were officially cut off.
The next three days we spent hiking, white water rafting, and mainly enjoying time off from life at home. Being without Internet and cell phone service for three days was hard enough as it is. I can’t imagine living like that all year around. Sure you could buy a giant satellite dish to put in your backyard, but most likely you would only get a few channels. I ended up spending most of my free time reading. I read more on that vacation than I had in a long time. I learned that cutting myself free of distracting material allows me to focus solely on the material at hand.
Being cut off from all media and electronics for a week made everything seem alien. Ever since Kairos and Maine I have attempted to regulate my use of electronic media more than ever before. I believe, every now and again, your body needs a break and cutting out media can in some ways relieve the pressure that is built up inside. I try not to watch television on a daily basis but when I do, I attempt to watch things that I can learn from rather than mindless reality shows with no purpose. Although I am “addicted to texting,” I try to avoid it as much as possible. I feel if someone really needs to talk to me they can call me. To me, sending out written messages from a phone weakens the importance of what someone is saying. Sure it is easy. It is often harder to deal with people one-on-one compared to having all the time in the world to create that perfect message and clicking send.
Brian Burkard
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