Screen Overload

Okay. I admit it. I've been procrastinating writing a blog entry on purpose. I've been putting it off because, quite honestly, I've been trying to take more breaks from being on a screen. I've been looking at screens a lot lately. And even though I have special lenses in my glasses now that protect my eyes from the blue light of screens, they don't really help the overall issue: screen fatigue.

A lot of us have it. Students are in virtual school, employees are in virtual meetings. Working from home, so much of what I do involves a screen. Some days I log off one zoom meeting just to log into another zoom meeting. Ministry is so much screen these days, because it has to be. I connect to my people with a screen. Worship is through a screen. Then I'm reading a book on my phone's Kindle app, checking out online articles related to ministry, on my coloring app to try and "take a break from work" and...

You get the point. It's a lot of screen. I have been trying to step back from it because it's a lot. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful for how technology is allowing us to connect. I can't imagine doing pandemic in a land without internet and screens. But it's still a lot. I ordered a book twice because of it -- once so I could read it on my phone and then the paperback version because I realized I just didn't want to read it on my phone anymore. So my blog entry is a little late. I also get that it's ironic to write about screen fatigue on a screen and you will also need a screen to read about my screen fatigue.

So what do we do?

We be intentional. We set alarms that tells us when to get up and walk around the room just so we can step away for a moment. We go outside and get some sun. I went out the other day and did yard work.  I really hate yard work, but there was something incredibly appealing about pulling weeds and getting down in the dirt with a shovel to yank the things out by the roots. I go for walks and read paperbacks. I work on quilt projects and sit on the porch just to soak in some sunlight, which is unbelievably delightful.

So stop reading. Right now. Go outside. Go read a book. Color an actual coloring page, not a coloring page on your phone (talking to myself, not you). The screen will still be here when you get back, but join me in intentionally getting off the screens for a while!


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