Byte Me: One Girl's Journey into Media Fasting

Day 1- June 15, 2012

The Context: A media fast is like a food fast, except you abstain from consuming media, i.e. television shows, movies, social media websites, radio, books, etc. There is an entire book written on this subject by Emerson College professor Tom Cooper called Fast Media, Media Fast. I manage the Twitter campaign for this book, and ironic as that may sound, this job is actually conducive to media fasting because it is about producing media rather than consuming it. Therefore, because of my role in this project, I have been asked to media fast. I've tried media fasting before. This is either my third or fourth attempt. I haven't been strong enough to continue for more than a few days before, but I am resolved to complete a one week media fast this time. The reason that I'm doing this now, and taking it so seriously, is because I have tasks in my life that I would like to complete that are perpetually put off because of how much time I waste on media.

The Goals:

• To clean my room and car, and keep them clean
• To write more-- magazine articles, short stories, blog posts
• To find new ways to unwind after work
• To spend more time outside when I'm not at work
• To paint more quotes onto the walls of my room 
• To read more (books are the only form of media that I am keeping)
• To think of and then post more goals as I become aware of them

The Rules:

1. All internet social media is gone. That means no Pinterest, no Twitter, and especially no Facebook. With regards to Twitter: tweeting is acceptable, but twittering (reading other people's tweets) is not. 
2. I am allotted one hour of TV media per day, and this is only because I need to be distracted by TV while I work out or I will not be able to push through it. This is my one weakness which I am indulging.
3. No radio. Not even in the car. Not even in hour-long traffic. 
4. Books are acceptable because it is the only form of media of which I do not believe I consume enough. Also, because I am a writer, books serve more than an entertainment purpose for me, which separates them from other forms of media. 

The Ground Rule: I will fast from media only when it is practical and not anti-social. (I stole this from Tom Cooper himself, but it's a good rule, right?) 

The First Day:

      I started out this morning by jump starting my metabolism with a granola bar before I began my cardio workout. Partaking in my one compromise of my media fast, I watched one hour of the Hatfields & McCoys History Channel special while running on my elliptical. (I'm a historical fiction nerd so I really enjoyed this program.) I wanted to finish watching the three-part program, but instead, I just paused it when I concluded my workout and went on with my life. I made a chocolate strawberry-banana smoothie for myself for breakfast, and, because I was not allowed to watch TV while I ate, went outside to my backyard patio. There, I consumed my breakfast in sunshine. Interestingly, my sister came out to join me, and we had a nice conversation about whatever. It didn't really matter because I was just happy that we were talking to each other and it wasn't about who had borrowed whose clothes last. 

      Then, she had to leave, so I went back inside to drop my cup in the sink and change into a bathing suit. It was really sunny today, and I hardly ever get to just lay out and relax by my pool because I work so much so I wanted to take full advantage of this day. I also brought Fast Media, Media Fast outside with me so I could read more of it and find quotes to tweet. However, it was so sunny out that I couldn't really see that well and gave up reading it after a couple of pages. I had also brought my laptop out with me so that I could work on an article for This Dish Is Vegetarian  but I could not finish working on that either because the sun was just so bright. Not that I entirely minded the fire ball's beat down because it gave me a chance to just lay down and think for a little while. I don't ever really do this, except for right before I'm about to go to sleep. At some point, I got up and ate some cereal for second breakfast/lunch and then reconvened my poolside meditation. 

      I did this for about an hour, but a mind like mine cannot stay idle for long. I have this compulsive need to always be doing something, and today was no exception. So I embarked on my first media fast task: cleaning my room and car. (I also took a shower at this point in my day, just so everyone knows.) Usually, I would put on music to listen to while I cleaned but, in accordance to my media fast, I did not. In about an hour or so, both my room and car were clean, and this made me feel a lot better about life in general. 

      I was planning on meeting some old dance friends at 5:15 to get dinner before we all went to that year's dance recital, so I began getting ready after my room and car were clean. I take a long time to get ready, and I'd rather not detail the exact amount of time, but let's just say that this task occupied me for a while. At 4:45, I left my house and went to the bank before meeting my friends. I spent much more time at the ATM than is necessary for a normal person, but if by three paragraphs into this you haven't realized that I am not a normal person, you need to read closer. At any rate, I met up with my friends and was occupied by them and the dance recital until 10:30 pm. Then, I drove my sister and myself home, where I then finished writing a blog post, worked on a possible magazine article, and worked on another magazine article that was due yesterday. So I'm accomplishing my task to write more, and this blog post is further proof of this achievement. Unfortunately, I know (already) that this post is not the finest example of my writing, but the fact that I'm writing at all makes me feel happy and fulfilled. So, all in all, a pretty good first day of media fasting. I don't really feel any withdrawal symptoms, and I'm even looking forward to tomorrow.