Tech Cleanse

We, the Marshall's, are going on a tech cleanse. For the month of February our only activities that will require the use of screens for include email, weather checking, journal writing, video chatting, photo/video organizing, and texting. This might sound like a fairly long list, but it does not include blogging, checking blogs, Facebooking, news reading, game playing, movie watching, etc. (Though we did update our "Out of the Mouth of Abe sidebar for your enjoyment).

During a priesthood meeting on Sunday I felt inspired to do this, though it did not have anything directly related to the content of the talks. And while I did receive clear revelation on the matter, this is a topic that Ariel has never needed revelation on. She was thrilled when I shared the plan with her. Here are a few reasons that came directly to mind for this cleanse:

•  Where we spend our time will determine who we become. In order to develop personally, professionally, and spiritually I feel I need to spend more of my time on things that will be valuable to me, my family, and those around me. Examples include reading, visiting families, having people over, playing music, spending time outdoors and in museums, etc. 
• Time is critical. I can't imagine the world has ever had more choices, more leisure time, and more opportunity to fritter away that precious time. 
• I've been feeling a fair amount of stress lately because of my calling and work obligations. I'm certain that the better I use my time the better I will feel. 
• I include the following quotes not as primary reasons for this experiment, but to remind us of the dangers of movies and the Internet. Ironically, that subject merits a post in and of itself. 
• "It hardly needs to be said that much of what passes for entertainment today is coarse, degrading, violent, mind-numbing, and time wasting. Ironically, it sometimes takes hard work to find wholesome leisure." -Elder Christofferson
•  "...wide-ranging media sources, electronic tools and gadgets—all helpful if used properly—can become hurtful diversions or heartless chambers of isolation." -President Uchtdorf
• "If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes." -Elder Bednar

I do recognize that many of the things from which we are abstaining for the month are "helpful if used properly" and that there are great opportunities to spread truth through social media. We are not doing this to appear self-righteous and we do not find any of our banned activities inherently bad. This fast will, I think, show our attachment to these electronic tools, assist us in detaching, and bring us back to the wired world with more discipline and a clearer view of things as they really are. 

Onward.