Is It Time To Break From Online Life?
The other day, on a gloomy afternoon, a friend of mine and I went to the library and played a little game. I know what you’re thinking: how does the library have any connection to games or anything remotely related to fun?
Well, I hope to convince you that sometimes it’s nice to face books, and not computer screens (as I write to you on the Internet and you read it on your computer screen). So the deal was that we had to find books related to four topics we had agreed upon, with a fifth that was a wildcard of our own choosing. Before the 25-minute time limit expired on the workstation, we had to find the titles and would then proceed to embark on our curiosity-quenching quest. Upon finding the books, we’d compare to see who found what – the goal being to have the more interesting book.
Here were the results:
1. I actually had a lot of fun doing this.
2. I ended up borrowing 5 books.
3. I learned some crazy things previously unknown to me.
4. I spent NO money in the process.
5. I got away from the computer screen for a bit.
Alright, so the example above may be entirely too geeky for your taste, but the fact is that libraries don’t have spam, x-rated links, flashing windows and other distractions that exist online. As I looked for my selections, I did not come across books titled Congratulations You Are the 1 000 000th Visitor of This Book or Win a Free Binder. There were no books that popped out of the bookshelf, trying to get me to read THEM instead of the books I searched for. Mind you, I DID end up finding other books but this didn’t involve being taken away from the task at hand. In short, it was nice to learn things - with good company - without all the nonsense that can come with researching online.
If you are fortunate enough to have a local library, I strongly suggest that you take advantage of its many benefits. In addition to books there are also:
· audio books - have someone else read the book TO you
· CDs - remember these round relics?
· DVDs (VHS?) - why pay to rent them?
· Instructional classes - learn a plethora of useful skills
In all likelihood, all of these things are available to you at no cost whatsoever. I have probably watched over 200 movies courtesy of the library (over $1000 in savings) and have discovered (re-discovered) tons of music as well. The only cost is late fees, and those are entirely within my control. Take some time and catch up on some blockbusters or classics, and save loads of cash in the process. I know I have, and will continue to.
What do YOU do that costs you very little money but provides much enjoyment? I’m curious!
Comments (3)
In reference to #3, one of the craziest things I learned was that - contrary to what I (and most people) learned in school - Pluto is FAR from the edge of our solar system. In fact, it is barely one-fifty-thousandth of the way there!
I found out in Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' that although "nobody knows how many stars there are in the Milky Way, estimates range from 100 billion or so to perhaps 400 billion and the Milky Way is just one of 140 billion or so other galaxies, many of them even larger than ours."
Using a complex equation (the Drake Equation), astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake estimates there are about 10,000 communicative civilizations within the Milky Way today.
Try it yourself: http://www.pbs.org/lifebeyondearth/listening/drake.html
And remember that the Milky Way is just ONE galaxy among BILLIONS. Still think we're alone in the universe?
Interesting...I had facebook up on one of my tabs when I was reading this. Here's what I have rediscovered this summer that costs virtually nothing and brings me great enjoyment. I used to do it when I was a kid.
I take my shoes off and walk in the grass. Not in a city park - somewhere where there are no cars, no horns, no drunk people. Then, in fine coincidence with your above discoveries, I plant my feet firmly on the ground and look up. I look at the sky,( and this works best on a clear night, when you can see all of the stars,etc. ) and pretend (sort of, maybe acknowledge is a better word)yeah, I acknowledge that I am at the edge of the earth. No matter where I am on the planet, if I am standing on the ground and there is nothing between me and the sky - I am at the edge of the Earth. It's pretty fun. Like a big,never ending, gigantic amusement park ride with no lines...
See...THAT'S what I'm talking about. I am surely guilty of being sucked into technology and all of the ways it supposedly helps us to keep connected with others, but sometimes you have to step away from it all and just appreciate the fact that you have done so. Thanks for commenting, Ashley.
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