I’m taking an online sabbatical this month. Consider this an act of both self-reflection and self-awareness but also an act of self-preservation. As any blogger knows, blogging every few days, taking photographs daily, approving and responding to comments 24 hours a day (7 days a week), while authoring content in your head every few paces, is an entirely consuming experience. Blogging has completely changed my life. And this job is an utter privilege. I concur with a good friend from high school who has said, “I’m happy to help and thrilled to be here.”
But I’ve been consuming media, blogging, and authoring content without reprieve since November 11, 2009. That statistic is not a justification, rather an explanation. I simply need a bit of time away from this space. I need to understand the relationship I have with my iPhone, with Twitter, and my blog better. I need to go back outside.
I also need a bit more uninterrupted time with my children. I need some uninterrupted time with myself. I need to go to clinic during the week without being online for a few hours first.
Today, I’m stepping back. I’ll be working in clinic. I’ll be working at home. But I won’t be blogging, I won’t be on Twitter, I won’t be checking comments every few hours.
My thought is that I’ll reemerge differently. I speculate it may be liberating. I speculate it might be stifling. I have no idea how I’ll actually feel. But I know it will help me understand not only our complex relationship with social networks and digital media differently, it will improve my capacity to share.
I will miss this community. I have come to count on all of you more than you know. I learn from this space daily. I’m a more-informed, better-read pediatrician because of this.
I’ve been given all sorts of advice about how to unplug successfully. That in itself illuminates the nearly universal challenge we have with our devices and our technology. Remember when I said I was a little bit unhappy? When I unplug, I’ll trust my instinct and I promise to report back. In the meantime, I’ll dig up and re-post blogs from the past 21 months that you may enjoy. And I’ll likely post a few new photographs for you to see from time to time.
Until September 1st, I wish you all well. May you find a little more time to look at the sky, too…
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Nanna says
Enjoy your time off from blogging etc. I’ll be heading out into the sunny Seattle weather very soon and as often as I can now that summer is here. “See” you when fall returns.
Joe Hage says
Enjoy your well-deserved time, Wendy.
Krissa says
This is refreshing. Enjoy!
Mignon says
To the good doctor,blogger & mother enjoy this time!!!
Melanie says
While I’m sad to not see what great things you have to say about so many things I think about, I am thrilled for you to have some unplugged time for yourself and family. I look forward to hearing again from you in the fall, whatever that may look like after a long awaited and deserved break!
DS says
As I think I told you when you were finishing residency, medicine (and clearly social media) will take all that you are willing to give, especially when you are as amazing at what you do as you are, Wendy Sue. It is up to YOU to protect yourself from total overload and burnout. So glad to see that you are taking this break!! Enjoy your “day job” and your precious family.
KaceyHB says
I know you wont see this for a month 😉 but enjoy this time away! and we will see you when you get back!! isnt it scary to think how technology dependent our own children will be in 20 years!!gulp..
Kathy says
Three Cheers for you and your family — I’m sure if every parent took such a media-hiatus we’d all have happier, better-connected families 🙂
B.S. says
good for you! hope you enjoy your month off!
when you get back – if this fits into the scope of this blog (it may not) i would love to hear your take on allowance. we have been giving it a lot of thought for our 4 and 6 year olds and are trying to figure out a way to balance the getting-giving-saving aspects of money that makes sense and feels fair but still fun.
thanks for all your great posts!
Nicole H. says
I thought about you today.Then I realized WOW my kids are healthy! Then I realized I also haven’t been on my twitter at all and thought I’d seek out your blog and do some reading. Glad to hear you are taking a break. I imagine it felt like a vacation. I hope it did!!
I admire your dedication to learning & to educating all of us!!
Hope you and the boys are having a fabulous summer and enjoying the sun!
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD says
Thanks, Nicole. The month has been delightful. I’m having a hard time saying goodbye to a more relaxed schedule as I welcome the arrival of Sept tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!
Erica says
Whoo hoo! Good for you and your family. You would give us the same advice if we were feeling the same feelings. ENJOY! We’ll be here when you get back.
Karleen says
My children were young back in the 80-90’s and I remember standing along the sideline of a soccer game of our adolescents, chatting with another mom. We were reflecting on having grown up during the feminism era and, of course — wanting to have it all — striving to ensure we had rewarding careers, happy and healthy homes, children who were well-attended to, fulfilled marriages, that we kept in contact with friends and extended family members, and on and on . . . I smile as I recall the two of us, totally exhausted, laughing together as she exclaimed, “WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE WE THINKING!?!” Doing-it-all, Super-moms, we realized something had to give and sadly it was mostly ourselves. Glad to hear you’ve taken a month off. And I hope regrouping was helpful! It’s so easy for us as ‘individuals’ to get lost in the world/lives we create for ourselves.