My family and I got back from vacation last week after spending seven days at Sonrise Mountain Ranch near Cimarron, Colo. It\u2019s a family camp where parents spend mornings in a pretty intense biblical curriculum together while kids have their own program. Afternoons and evenings are more open, with lots of time to paddleboat, canoe, hike, talk, play games or nap (in theory \u2026 my kids pretty much eliminated that option for me).<\/p>\n
One thing none of us were doing, however, was engaging in electronic media. No Wi-Fi. No cell phone coverage. No television. No news. None of that stuff. The closest we ever got was one group movie night.<\/p>\n
I told a number of people before I went that I was both looking forward to and somewhat intimidated by the prospect of this forced media fast. It\u2019s one thing, after all, to choose<\/i> to forgo something. It\u2019s another thing entirely to have that decision made for you. It\u2019s a decision, in fact, that the camp has made very deliberately to enable participants in Sonrise\u2019s weeklong programs to be able to focus on relationships, family and their connection with God.<\/p>\nForced to unplug<\/h4>\n
The trepidation part came from realizing just how connected I often am to media of one form or another \u2014 most often the internet for me, if I\u2019m being honest. I like knowing what\u2019s going on in the world. And in the last decade or so, I think my brain has become a little too accustomed to being able to seek both information and distraction online in moments when I feel like I need a break or a little stress relief. (Work with me on those rationalizations, OK?)<\/p>\n
There were certainly some moments early in the week where I realized that if I\u2019d had an internet connection for my cellphone, I\u2019d probably have been checking news, email, guitar sites I frequent, Facebook or any number of other myriad cyberspace destinations. Not having that outlet forced me to be more present and alert to what was happening around me \u2014 just as had been intended. Occasionally the lack of such a choice irked me a bit. But, somewhat to my surprise, I found that leaving all that tech stuff behind wasn\u2019t as hard as I thought it would be, and I relatively quickly found myself engaging (along with others) in a lot more concrete pursuits.<\/p>\n
For example, my son and I spent hours on the dock \u201cfishing\u201d for minnows. Henry and some new friends had nets that they scooped the little fishies up with, and that pursuit absolutely enthralled him. We often read stories these days about how contemporary kids don\u2019t get outside as much and have too much screen time, and this was a pretty powerful illustration of what happens if you can just unplug and begin to discover the wonder of the world around you. I had some incredible moments with Henry \u201cfishing\u201d as well as some in which I was ready for him to be a little bit less enthralled and ready to consider something else as I tried to keep us both from getting too sunburned at 8,500 feet. But in terms of relationship-building time with him, it was easily some of the best that I’ve ever had \u2014 so much so that we\u2019re seriously looking into how we can begin doing more fishing together.<\/p>\n