Channeling Thoreau: The Media Date

  Thoreau's Cabin and Statue 
  Originally uploaded by StarrGazr.

Your assignment this week--set aside a block of time in which you devote your full attention to one piece of media. Merlin Mann calls this the "Media Date".

You may choose to do a Monday evening book date--just you and a favorite book. Or maybe it'll be a Sunday morning music date where you look through your CD collection and pick out one album to listen to as you sit and close your eyes.

Since last Saturday worked out so well for me with the  ShutDown Day, I think I'll make every Saturday computer ShutDown Day, and I'll devote that day to having a few "media dates" throughout the day.

Speaking of the ShutDown Day--I actually turned off my computer about noon on Friday, and I have to tell you, I feel much more refreshed than I usually do after a weekend. I've got a calm, relaxed feeling, and I feel incredibly well rested.

One thing interesting that I noticed that sort of brought on this idea of having the "media date"--As I did the computer ShutDown Day, it occured to me that it has been a really long time since I've given my undivided attention to one source of media at a time.

I think somehow the computer gets us in the habit of doing multiple things at once.

We've got 7 windows/tabs open at the same time. We're IM-ing or Twittering at the same time that we're talking on the phone. We're watching television and blog surfing at the same time. We're listening to music and reading a magazine simultaneously as we wade through out emails.

I've even found myself Twittering, IM-ing, answering emails and writing blog posts (or trying to write them) all at the same time before!

While away from the computer, I started getting back to doing one thing at a time, and it was incredibly relaxing.

I listened to some old CDs I had sort of forgotten about (old school Pixies--"Doolittle"). I gave the music my full attention, and I was flooded with pleasant memories of what was going on in my life when I first heard that album. I found myself imagining, daydreaming, re-playing songs and parts of songs that had particular meaning to me.

I had forgotten how fun it could be simply to listen to an album.

I also checked out some books from the library, one of which was Thoreau's Walden. I took the book outside and sat at the picnic table on my patio and just read the book for a couple hours. It was extremely relaxing to read and be surrounded by blooming trees and shrubs and the sounds of nature.

It was rather appropriate that I was reading Walden during computer ShutDown Day.

While other writers of his time were travelling to Europe to create grand, whirlwind adventures to write about, Thoreau travelled inward, seeking the beauty of nature, and lived by himself in a cabin on Walden Pond.

While some folks mistakenly label him a hermit, his intention was to separate himself from society in order to gain a greater understanding of it.

His thought was that by pulling back, we can be better in touch with ourselves as we relate to the world.

Thoreau undertook his own version of a computer ShutDown Day and a media date, and not being a guy to do anything by half-measures, he lived at Walden Pond by himself, separate from the noise of the world for 2 years and 2 months.

We may not be able to get away for 2 years to live by ourselves in a cabin we built with our own two hands, but we can emulate Thoreau a teeny tiny bit by pulling back from the chaos of the world one time this week and consciously choosing to focus our attention on just one thing.

Who knows, you just might enjoy it so much that you fall in love with your media date and decide to make it a regular part of your life.

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

I got that "refreshed" feeling too! Perhaps the computers are sucking more out of us than we realise? Actually I got a bit of an energy burst late Sunday night that saw me awake into the wee hours.

Oh, and I am so impressed you are a Pixies fan!

[Shannon]

I love this idea. Sundays usually end up being my "media date" day, generally with the book I am reading, but not by design. It's just that by Sunday afternoon, I don't want to do anything else productive.

What's funny is that when I was reading this post and got to this line -- "I think somehow the computer gets us in the habit of doing multiple things at once." -- I automatically checked my email and then updated my to do list.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

@Gavin--Yes, I think it is sucking more out of us than we imagine, or maybe the things we do while offline are so invigorating (being outside, having fun with friends and family) that we miss out on that energy/mood boost when we spend too much time on the computer.

And I just remembered--I actually saw the Pixies in concert one time! I had forgotten about that. Ahhh, good times. Today I've been listening to Surfer Rosa, and I can't believe I've neglected my Pixies albums for this long. It's been a happy reunion!

@Shannon--yes, it's like we've trained ourselves to function like computers, as if we're parallel processors and can handle a million different information inputs at once! I'm looking forward to a recurring media date. Sunday is a perfect time.