April 4, 2012
Ooopps!
So, this
project got off to a rough start. When I woke up yesterday morning I forgot
that I was starting it. So the first thing I did was log onto Facebook and my
Hulu account, I merrily viewed profiles and Modern Family until it was time for
class. Ooopps! I got to class and the projects were mentioned and I realized
that I had messed up, but I resolved to be perfect for the rest of the day.
Well, I did okay for the few hours I was in classes, then it was time for
breakfast, and out of habit I threw a couple sausages on my plate. Ooopps!
Fortunately I remembered that I was trying to be a vegetarian during the day
after the first few bites. My biggest failure of the day though, was the use of
my Facebook; I have been using it to communicate because my replacement phone
has still not arrived. Ooopps! I tried to only use the messaging part in an
attempt to honor my own rule. I am a little conflicted with this because I know
that I do need to communicate with my family and with people I plan to hang out
with, but then I know that I said no social media… I am hoping that my new
phone gets here soon, so that this is not a problem.
I did
fairly well in all other aspects of my project, I walked to Tenlelytown instead
of taking the shuttle, with my friends while they bought food, and it was hard
to not join in on the spending spree… I had to wait till we got back to campus
to eat dinner. I enjoyed my time for myself a lot though yesterday! I went for
a long run, which was great, it gave me time to think about this project and
reflect on how the changes were difficult but slightly refreshing. It is like a
test of my will a lot of the time, whether or not I can say “no” to things I
don't really need but really, really want. It’s kind of like a game with
myself. I also really enjoyed writing a
letter to my grandparents; it was much more personal then e-mail. I know that
they will appreciate the time I put into it. In attempt to use my computer
less, I read the New York Times paper
instead of reading online, and I think I may just switch to that, there was
something very cool about just sitting down a disappearing into a big paper
without distraction like YouTube or Facebook.
Although
this project got off to a rough start, I think that I am going to learn
something about my own preferences this week even as I battle my own greedy
wants. I am feeling slightly more optimistic about this project, I know there
will be some struggles with myself and situations I am in, but then I also know
that I am going to have fun doing things in place of my usual habits.
Hi Bobbi,
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of self-restraint is really interesting in your experiment! We are so used to being able to have most things when we want them with minimal effort. For a lot of us, self-restraint probably isn't a trait that is valued a ton anymore. Especially with growing technology we literally have unlimited access to online shopping, movies, music, food ect. I think it's awesome that you were aware of the difficulties of self-restraint but that you were also strong! On top of this, reflecting on what you actually needed and what you didn't is evidence of you taking the project one step further in a way. Good job!