Another week of no reading or media, done

Four years after my first round of Artist’s Way, I thought I’d be prepared for the reading/media deprivation week, but silly me for thinking it was in week 8 and not week 4. 

I had some really important revelations during the week I did media deprivation. My ground rules were: reading/media for work only, during work hours. No video games, TV, or texting. I could also read instructions or briefly research for a non-media hobby. My partner kept me updated on major news headlines.

One, I have simultaneously too many hobbies and too few. At a certain point in the night, my fine motor skills deteriorate, and I should just not be working on anything tiny and crafty. There is also so much puzzling I can do in one sitting, night after night. My back hurt a lot and often. Two, I love writing postcards to friends (the last thing I did, when I ran out of things to do). Three, Julia Cameron is incredibly privileged, and either hasn’t confronted that or doesn’t care to update her writing to reflect it. Not a new revelation, but still an important reminder.

During my non-work time, I filled my hours with:

• one yoga video
• finished a puzzle; started and almost finished another
• learned some drawing basics from my partner and sketched Zoey, then did some leaf line drawings
• researched how to amend, bought the parts, and amended garden soil
• researched, shopped for, and made a snuffle mat for Zoey. It took me half a day to make, and her four minutes to find everything in it
• listened to an ungodly amount of music
• revived my mini cafe kit and worked on more furniture pieces
• finished playing Decorum with my partner & now we need to buy the extension pack
• used massage balls twice at night, after stretching, after seeing it was midnight (too early to go to bed), and needing something more to do
• wrote six postcards to friends

If I do AW again, I am going to be much better prepared for this week by scheduling activities and pre-planning crafts. While I did go to bed much earlier than usual, I was not tired, and it took me twice as long to fall asleep. AND, vivid dreams returned—with one being an awful nightmare—severely affecting my sleep all week. I found myself a little angrier, more frequently. I understand the reasoning behind not reading; however, I think I’m pretty decent at managing my online and phone time. Video games and Netflix are two of my big late-night wind-down activities, and having both unavailable left me with excess energy and a constantly running brain. After the week was over, the pendulum swung drastically in the other direction, and I found myself binging, googling, and gaming.