I just opened up my laptop for the first time in three and a half days.

For me, THAT IS A BIG DEAL.

We spent a few days away.  It wasn't actually that far away.  But it was off the grid.

No wifi.  No internet.  No landline.  No cell service.

You could occasionally get a text message out or in if you so chose.  But I did not make that choice.

I was blissfully away.

And what did I miss?

Apparently there was a local earthquake.
And Princess Kate had her baby.

Anything else?

Um...

I'm not sure.  I haven't yet searched any news sites.
Or my newsfeed.
Still living blissfully.
Not ready to get back on the grid.

Even my fitbit battery died overnight, so I've been fitbit free today.

Maybe it's ok to be disconnected.

Off and on for the last few months I've contemplated canceling our internet service.

It's continually increasing in price and decreasing in speed - or so it seems.

We live in a technologically driven culture.  But that doesn't have to be the way I choose to live my life.

Unfortunately, if it's there, it's my default.
And I tend to just consume so much when I'm open to it.
We tend to be so wrapped up in what's going on online and miss what's going on in front of us.

What's more important:  what the proverbial Jones are doing and posting or what my three year old daughter is doing and saying and observing and interpreting?

I briefly checked facebook this afternoon to check on a friend who was in the hospital recently.  In the two minutes or so that I was online I happened to see a friend lamenting how the whole Star Ways Day posts ("May the Fourth be with you") were getting old.  And I blissfully realized I hadn't seen anything about it.

You can avoid a lot by staying off the grid.
You can gain a lot by staying off the grid.