Colon-Cleansing for the Techno-Entertainment-Dependent Soul

If you have a weak stomach, this post is NOT for you. Go get yourself some “Chicken Soup,”* or something.

(Sissy.)

I'm trying something new. For one day each week I will abstain from TV, movies, and internet (yes--that means INTERNET). It’s like a festive “Walden Day” or something. You know, so I can commune with my inner self and stuff. It’s about doing something different than you normally do. In exercise, if you usually do one kind of work out, you’re suppose to mix it up every once in awhile to wake up your other muscles. That’s why I run once every five years or so. Wait, did I say “run?” I meant clean toilets.

What did I do with my day? Well, I spent some time in the morning working in the garden. It would seem that I naturally, effortlessly have the green thumb of the Grim Reaper's understudy. So each year I say, "THIS will be the year I don't kill a tree, a shrub, or the brave hopes of a delicate bud dreaming for her time to shine in the wondrous gaze of cherubic children delighting in her humble offering of peace, love, and happiness."

(Whoa, whoa, whoa. I got a little carried away there. That's a slight exaggeration of what I say each year. Sometimes I get a little dramatic--the shrub part, I agree, was a little over-the-top. Sorry.)

What else . . . what else . . . Oh, I did some laundry. I balanced the checkbook. I napped. I wiped some counters. I cleaned toilets. What? Well, I DID say to do something you normally DON’T do. Oh, and I made dinner.

Was I tempted to “just check ONE thing online?” Yes. But, I held on.

Well, I DID just watch part of a movie with my husband in the late evening, but that was part of our hang-out-together time, so that doesn’t count. And then, after that I watched one episode of a chick-TV show on Netflix. But, it was, like, 11:30 at night (remember? I napped), so that’s practically midnight, which is already the next day, so my one day was up. And it was just ONE show. And my husband was technically in the same room (at his computer) so it was STILL kind of like our hang-out time. And our hang-out time is REALLY sacred, so, you know . . .

Will I be able to handle one whole week (like I’ve planned for the end of the month)? A seven-day cleanse to flush my system? Whatever will I do to kill the time?

Perhaps I'll just nap, clean the house, read a book, maybe go out to the garden. Yeah, why not? I've got some thyme to kill.

(*You know how they have "Chicken Soup" for the Dog-Lover's Soul, the Cat-Lover's Soul, the Horse-Lover's Soul? Do you think they have "Chicken Soup for the Hen-Lover's Soul?" Cause that's just cruel.)