If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning, torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day.
E.B. White
It’s an entirely challenging task getting to live this just one life.
E.B. White summarizes the dilemma as well as I can imagine when he describes the tension between wanting to savor and wanting to save. For most of us who are raising children there is a constant tug-o-war in our minds/hearts as we decipher how best to live each day, especially when making choices about how we work. Nothing better than savoring the delight of our children, though, most all of us agree on that. Sure my boys fight and squabble, they ignore me when I ask them to put on their shoes, they leave their room a mess, and they forget to say, “please” in front of Grandma. But not a cell in my body denies this: my boys are simply miraculous. I constantly remain awestruck while in the midst of my family. And yes, just like those ahead of me warn, it does feel as if their childhood is coming at lightening speed.
So as the torrid waves of “work-life-balance” perpetuate, I’m unplugging for a few weeks just as I’ve done the last 2 years. A true believer that digital-free time is essential, I’ll use this post to ensure I check-out of the Internet for a bit. After sundown Friday I’ll be off Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (maybe even Instagram), off the blog, and only sporadically into my email. I’ll still be at clinic and also on KING5 News. The rest of the time I’ll be with my family as we work to live mindfully, enjoy the end of summer, and prep for the onslaught of autumn.
Be well until September. In the meantime here’s some good reading:
- Your Brain on Computers — an award winning series by NYT writer, Matt Richel that examines “how a deluge of data can affect the way people think and behave.”
- Slow Ideas a brilliant essay on innovation in The New Yorker from Dr Atul Gawande. Find a seat and carve out a 1/2 hour to enjoy.
- Work-Life Balance Isn’t The Point — Harvard Business Review blog post about the elusion of searching for “balance” with a few unusually helpful tips.
- I’m Still Here: back online after a year without the Internet — writer Paul Miller details his year offline and his mistaken assumptions.
- Reflections on my 2012 digital break: Striving for Polygamy and the 5 Things I Learned during my 2011 August time offline.
Mike Sevilla MD says
Enjoy the time off! I enjoyed my social media break this summer as well!
Melissa says
I live within this tension, literally, every single day. With three children, but most notably, a son with a rare, degenerative disease with an expected life span of about fifteen years old, every moment since his diagnosis four years ago has been a carefully crafted balance between trying to save his life and now the lives of what are now our dear friends’ children with this disease, and savoring his possibly short life as well as the life our entire family has created. It is sometimes with a heavy heart that I set aside the blogging, researching, tweeting, and calling, feeling as if there is more that I could do, that if I spent this extra moment, a bigger difference might be made. It is only with the full knowledge that I am actually not the one in control that I’m able to make that break and savor the blessed life that we’ve been given. But sometimes it doesn’t make it any easier. I’m a work in progress clearly, because I openly speak of my motto, “I’ll sleep in heaven.”
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Melissa,
Thank you so much for the comment. Simply can’t imagine the hard work of designing a day, as you describe it.
It is with each experience and each year that we all seem to learn how little control we often have. Life is torrid, full of torque and turns, yet also insanely rich moments. Especially when we’re willing to live these days fully.
Marti says
Time off from Social Media is essential for me, but it’s hard. It forces me to relax and stop thinking.
Marti
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
I’m uncertain I stop thinking when I’m offline. I just think about different things and in entirely different ways.
chris tobey says
Hi Wendy Sue – This post really resonated with me, at this very moment. Wonderful family time and intense work stress have been the colliding themes this summer. What a gift it is to just have my little guy smile and be so happy to see me when I come home at the end of the day. He has no idea how awesome that little gesture is (and I don’t mean like, totally awesome. I mean staring up at the night sky and feeling lost awesome).
Have big fun!
Chris
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Chris!
Thanks–so nice to see you here! I get it.
Thanks so much for the comment. Stare up at that sky!
Howard Luks says
Hey there WSS!~
I have long set aside daily protected time to try and appreciate most every tender moment, no matter how small. It enables me to keep everything in its proper bucket and its proper perspective (at least i THINK it does :–)) Kudos on your decision and commitment … Life should not be a narrowly focused race to the finish line! I love my work… but the joy and sense of accomplishment I derive from the time with my children, and helping to shape, mold and contribute to their “growth” is priceless.
Enjoy your time off the grid!
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Thanks, Howard. Always a work in progress!
Mark Grimes says
Thanks for allowing us to “savor” your moving words in this and every post. Enjoy your time away!
Melissa Hogan says
Wendy Sue,
Thanks for your comment. In trying to convince my husband of the need for a two week vacation next summer (maybe somewhat unplugged), I actually used you and Susannah Fox as examples of people entrenched in social media who recognize the need for a clear break. You guys (as well as others, I’m sure) are the example that it *can* be done and the litany of studies about the benefits of vacation (which are more fully realized unplugged, I fully acknowledge) are the examples of why it *should* be done, e.g., https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/news/how-to-get-more-vacation-time.html.