Taking a Sabbath

It seems lately that I can't lift my fingers off the keyboard of my laptop. I plan to. I walk away. And then, as if in a trance, I find myself back there again. Perched on the edge of the couch, my shoulders slumped, my eyes fixed on the spinning wheel as my fingers tap open new window after new window. 


It's become a problem. I didn't realize how much of one until I decided to take a day off.


The Universe was talking to me about it - through blogs and magazine articles and people walking by me on the street. Everyone was sharing their experiences of cutting the cord - for a day or a weekend or even a week on vacation. 


Some of them were doing the real deal - shutting everything off. Cozying up with a book. 


During passover, I kept my computer and my phone close while Navah's family soaked up the feeling of the day of rest. I would run into the other room to search, check on things, figure out if anything had changed since I'd been there an hour before.


But by this weekend, I was ready. Sort of. I had decided Saturday was the day - no internet. And that meant no internet on the phone either - no instagram, no tweeting. 


I was surprised - and a little embarrassed - by how nervous I was. Friday evening, I was frantically emailing, trying to make sure I didn't skip something important. I was anxious as I fell asleep. What if I needed to look something up tomorrow? What if someone emailed and I didn't respond? What if I had forgotten something? 


I thought about scrapping the whole plan. Maybe this wasn't the right day for it. Maybe I hadn't prepared enough. But I realized that the fact that I was feeling like I was meant that it was the perfect - the necessary - time for it. I really needed to take a step back. 


And I did. I woke up Saturday morning, and I didn't check my email. 


I made biscuits from a recipe in a cookbook. 


I watched an episode of Downton Abbey with Navah, and we cried our eyes out. We raked and weeded the front yard and delighted in the gorgeous sky and the flip-flop weather. Then the three of us (Navah, Jammer, and I) went for a run. I showered and put some fun stuff in my hair that made in soft and wavy.

We met with a wedding photographer. 


I made dinner, and when I couldn't figure out exactly what kind of dressing I wanted to make for the citrus slaw salad, I headed back to my shelf of cookbooks, thumbed through the pages, and found something delicious. 


When we sat down to watch a movie at the end of the day, I started to pull one of my crafts up onto the couch with me to keep my hands busy. And then I didn't, thinking I'd just watch for a few minutes before I started to multitask my pleasure. A few minutes turned into a whole movie of cuddling on the couch with nothing to divide my attention. 


And then I read in bed and fell asleep.


When I woke up the next morning, I checked my email. Nothing important had happened while I was away from it. Except that I had one of the most joyful, alive days I've had in a long, long time. 


I won't pretend that I didn't think about the internet. I did. A lot. I wanted to look 10,000 things up. I wanted to check my email and blogs and download pictures and scroll through Pinterest. But every time I had those thoughts, I just redirected. I focused on what I was doing in that moment. And it worked. It was an incredible lesson. 


One that I might just start practicing every week.

Katie