Challenge du Mois: Connectivity

                            

Welcome, October! A new month, hopefully cooler weather in sight, and the end of food-related challenges. What's there to explore then? Connections. The food connections have been discussed in detail, so I felt it was time to move on to more meaningful connections: human relationships.

If you're an avid reader, you'll likely notice that my goals in reducing physical and mental clutter are means towards stronger, more meaningful relationships with humans, animals, and good ol' Mother Nature. Focusing on all of those relationships at once is quite overwhelming, so I'll be spending all of October focusing on relationships of the human kind.

How does one do that? Well, I have a lot of ideas about this one, and obviously a few experiments to challenge my ideals. Firstly, I will explore how technology has changed human relationships. I will be nixing FaceBook for the whole month, but will be exploring other social media venues such as Twitter and Google+. Why give FaceBook the ax? Is it an overreaction to the changes? No. You see, FaceBook used to be a place where peers could come together to plan parties and form study groups. Then, it opened up to the world. It transformed as a means to stay in touch with distant relatives and friends, but also to keep up with your current circle. Fast forward a bit more, and you'll see FaceBook turning into advertising central. Skip to today and look to the future changes, and it's crystal clear what FaceBook's new intentions are--to use it's clients as free advertising tools. With FaceBook teaming up with big name companies like iTunes and Netflix, we, the physical people, are being blatantly used to sell more product. FaceBook tries to disguise these new partnerships as connecting friends through movies, shows, music, and games. Frankly, FaceBook, how dumb do you think we all are? It's quite pathetic. What used to be a hub for hanging out is becoming a constantly updating virtual billboard. I'm choosing not to be used as a money-making scheme. Thus is why I want to explore other social media sites. I still desire to connect, and the internet is a fantastic place for it, but I don't want to be in the midst of the marketing frenzy. I just want to connect with real humans without trying to be talked into buying a DVD. So good-bye FB, hello Bird and +.

Other than exploring new means to connect with humans on the world wide web, I plan to discover how these technological connectors may be negatively impacting my real life relationships. It's hard, though, because as a stay at home mother, those technological advances can be what keep me sane. Yet, I find myself so engrossed in said activities that I often fail to live my present life. I will be hopping out of the digital world one item at a time for a whole week at a time. For the first week, we will go TV, Netflix, movie free. No more free in-home babysitting for me or mindless programming to end a day. The second week will be a phone free week. I'm not the hugest phone or texting person, but I'm quite interested to see how I can still maintain contact with loved ones without the aid of my trusty cell phone. Week 3 will be the absolute hardest--no internet. This one already makes me queasy, but in order to truly understand the impact internet has on my time and relationships, it needs to go for awhile. Finally, the last week will be what I like to call Moderation Week. I will set limits on texting, internet usage, and Netflix time. I hope that by setting limits, I will use my time more wisely and come to appreciate what I often take for granted.

So that's how this month should go. No FaceBook. Twitter & Google+. Phone, Netflix, and internet deprivation periods. And hopefully, I'll find how to live more in the present in order to find the types of relationships I feel void of.

Could you do it? What's your technological vice? Want to connect? Look for MinimalistMommi on Twitter, Minimalist Mommi on Google+, and MinimalistMommi on Instant Messenger.