Day 6- June 20, 2012
I officially turned nineteen and a half today. I celebrated my half-birthday by treating it like every other day. I woke up, ate a bowl of cereal, and chatted with my mom while sitting outside by our pool. I had to go to work at eleven-forty-five a.m., but until then I was able to spend my morning tanning outside. My mom was lying out beside me, and we had another good mother-daughter talk. After this morning, I realized that I don't nearly talk to my mom enough. She's a really great lady when she isn't mad at me for leaving dishes in the sink, but I sometimes forget how loving and understanding of a person she is. I've been working so much lately that whenever I talk to her I'm usually exhausted and irritated, so our most recent conversations haven't been the most pleasant. However, today, we really did have a good talk. It was just a little thing, a little change in my normal routine, but it made me happy.
Around eleven, I started getting ready for work. It takes me about twenty minutes to drive to my job, so I allotted myself twenty minutes to physically prepare myself for the shift ahead. Luckily, my shift only lasted until two p.m. today so I was home by two-twenty. I worked out (at a normal time!) for forty-five minutes and then cooled off with a dip in my pool. My mom, after running errands that morning, had returned to her station on the left lounge chair. I accompanied her on the right and spent the next three hours intermittently swimming and relaxing. On rare occasions, I do actually get to enjoy my life.
Around five, I went inside and showered because I needed to get ready to go to my friend's birthday party. I was really excited because I finally had a night off from work and plans with which to fill my rare instance of free time. Before I went to the party, however, I stopped off at my sister's softball game. After watching the game winning double play(?), I drove to my friend's house in the backwoods of northeastern Pennsylvania. Now, when I say backwoods, I mean way back in the freaking woods. I was driving (speeding) on narrow, rocky roads, hoping that no one else had the bright idea to cross my crooked and careless path. To put my bad driving into context, I was late. If I have to drive anywhere, I'm pretty much always five to ten minutes late. This tendency has become even worse since going to school in Boston where I walk everywhere or blame my lateness on the unreliability of the T. Anyway, I was driving recklessly through the detour-laden boondocks of PA, but I eventually made it to my friend's house.
Once there, I was very excited to see all my friends who I have forsaken in the past two months for my job. The party was really fun, and totally media free. I spent the entire time simply reconnecting with old friends, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend an evening. Tomorrow will be my seventh (and last) day of media fasting, but I have a feeling that this personal experiment will impact me longer than this week. Through this experience, I feel like I've learned a lot about myself, my life, and the other people in it. I think that I am seeing certain things clearly for the first time. I do not think that I will be so willing to give up this clarity for the mindless comfort of distraction even after this is all over. I don't know how my relationship with media will continue tomorrow or the day after that, but I cannot wait to find out.
Around eleven, I started getting ready for work. It takes me about twenty minutes to drive to my job, so I allotted myself twenty minutes to physically prepare myself for the shift ahead. Luckily, my shift only lasted until two p.m. today so I was home by two-twenty. I worked out (at a normal time!) for forty-five minutes and then cooled off with a dip in my pool. My mom, after running errands that morning, had returned to her station on the left lounge chair. I accompanied her on the right and spent the next three hours intermittently swimming and relaxing. On rare occasions, I do actually get to enjoy my life.
Around five, I went inside and showered because I needed to get ready to go to my friend's birthday party. I was really excited because I finally had a night off from work and plans with which to fill my rare instance of free time. Before I went to the party, however, I stopped off at my sister's softball game. After watching the game winning double play(?), I drove to my friend's house in the backwoods of northeastern Pennsylvania. Now, when I say backwoods, I mean way back in the freaking woods. I was driving (speeding) on narrow, rocky roads, hoping that no one else had the bright idea to cross my crooked and careless path. To put my bad driving into context, I was late. If I have to drive anywhere, I'm pretty much always five to ten minutes late. This tendency has become even worse since going to school in Boston where I walk everywhere or blame my lateness on the unreliability of the T. Anyway, I was driving recklessly through the detour-laden boondocks of PA, but I eventually made it to my friend's house.
Once there, I was very excited to see all my friends who I have forsaken in the past two months for my job. The party was really fun, and totally media free. I spent the entire time simply reconnecting with old friends, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend an evening. Tomorrow will be my seventh (and last) day of media fasting, but I have a feeling that this personal experiment will impact me longer than this week. Through this experience, I feel like I've learned a lot about myself, my life, and the other people in it. I think that I am seeing certain things clearly for the first time. I do not think that I will be so willing to give up this clarity for the mindless comfort of distraction even after this is all over. I don't know how my relationship with media will continue tomorrow or the day after that, but I cannot wait to find out.
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