THE DISCONNECTED AFFAIR
It’s true that there has been an affair going on for the past three months; I’m not going to deny it. There are 3 in our bed at night. Myself, my husband and some form of an apple. Be it the iphone, ipod, or ipad. (And no, we don’t have sponsorship with them). The bright light is annoying and I was once told that the bedroom is for reading, sleeping and making love.
My husband has currently lost the ability to switch off. Starting his own business has been amazing to watch , extremely exciting and also draining for us both. I can see his brain waves are packed to the brim with different ways to try new strategies, and all that lays in front of him at night when there is nothing but stillness. It’s as though the nightly silence is the time he hears how loud the noise actually is inside his head. It’s a current learning curve for us both.
With December always being a full time for everyone, it makes me wonder why so many of us find it so hard at night to simply lie down and switch off; completely. Is it an art? Someone one aspires to master? Does it take time to walk in the door from work to a family, or even by yourself and just say ’I’m switching off; I’ve disconnected; I’m tapping out’. Sadly, in today’s world I feel the answer is becoming a strong NO. With social media available around the clock, there is never a time where everything halts, that is unless YOU make the decision to change your thought patterns and remember the simplicity of life; the absence of all of the white noise going on in your head, the time when you and your toddler can be 100% ’on’, then so very tired and easily fall asleep as most toddlers do at night. Where have we lost that ability? It’s almost as though the older we become, we somehow seem to handle our emotions and thoughts worse than when we were younger.
Disconnecting is known as the state of shutting off the current. Another similar definition is to undo or break the connection of the momentum. I asked a few respected people during the past few weeks how they “switch off”. My answers ranged from “having structure”, “taking many years to learn the habit” and a few surprisingly answered “I am so exhausted at night I just lie down in bed and when I wake its the morning. Then I deal again with all the clutter inside my head”.
We are all unique and therefore all have different methods of how to switch off. However you do, make sure you do DISCONNECT. To all the over active brains out there take note. For Christmas let your present be your presence on the day. Fully aware and 100% available. The Apple technologies will have to wait for 24hours maybe even 48 if you’re lucky.
