For some people, Saturdays are full of fun and adventure. It's a day to look forward to after a stressful week. For college students, it’s a continuation of more partying or relaxation during Spring Break. However, for me it was the most uneventful day of my life. I live for adventure and this particular day was an adventure of sorts. My journalism professor assigned us a digital detox day during break. That meant I couldn’t text, use the internet, watch TV, use social media, listen to MUSIC or READ for a whole day. I had 11 days to begin. I have horrible decision-making skills so I decided to start mine that Saturday.
Normally, I can live without liking posts on Instagram, Snapchatting my dog, Sparky, doing silly things like barking in his sleep, giggling at funny gifs on Twitter and updating my Facebook profile to make it more professional. I actually started detoxing after New Years as one of my resolutions. However, I’m a journalism major. So the fact that I chose to live under a rock for a few months because I'd become too distracted with social media to complete tasks, was probably not a great idea. I realized after attending my journalism class for the first time that detoxing meant being out of the loop. I would always wonder why a simple phrase being said by my professor would elicit gasps among my classmates. This resulted in me constantly leaning over and asking my friend what everyone was talking about. It became frustrating not knowing what was going on in the world.
I thought this assignment would be easy. I willingly gave up social media before so I thought I could do it again. I have never been more wrong. This assignment actually affected my behavior for that day. I woke up and resisted the urge to check my phone like I normally would. I got up and walked to the kitchen. There has never been a day in my house where there is no music playing. So this Saturday was no exception even if I wasn’t supposed to listen to music. Music is very important to me as well. I literally cannot live without it. No matter what I do, I have my earbuds in, and it makes everyday tasks enjoyable. My chores became very mundane and harder to complete since I wasn’t able to jam out to Childish Gambino or The Isley Brothers.
After I finished my chores, I knew I couldn’t waste the day away laying in bed reminiscing about the days where I would find amazing songs and new artists to listen to or send new songs I found to my friends. So I spent most of the day writing an article for Odyssey because I had a deadline to meet. Writing that article took a while without Spotify and Pandora, but I got it done! I could finally relax and watch TV—wait no, I couldn’t. I couldn’t even continue reading my book! The thought made me feel even more grumpy and depressed. I decided to take a nap instead. I woke up grumpy and irritated at life. I learned that day that without music, I’m not a very sociable person. Life is boring without it. I also should pick up my books more often because one day I’ll be too busy to read.
