Addicted to words? What I’m giving up – and gaining – for the season.

I find myself thinking about Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, and how she suggests that writers “unplug” from words for one week to get their own language percolating.  No reading whatsoever.  I love this idea.

It would be one thing if I spent hours of my day reading high-quality literature, but that’s not where the hours are going.  Reading reviews of Christmas toys on the internet, email, Facebook, Twitter.  Some nights while sipping spiked hot chocolate on the couch, Jeff and I sit side by side on our laptops, typing away or swept into the drama of another Yahoo update.  While our beautiful patio sits empty and the stars flicker unobserved.  Not what two healthy young adults should be doing for hours on end.

This weekend I was in bed with a back injury.  Woke at 3 a.m. Sunday to grueling pain – couldn’t move my neck or shoulder without a yelp. We read on the internet (of course) that bed rest and ibuprofen were the best course of action.  For two days in bed, I read books, researched US-made artificial Christmas trees, read books to my kids, and slept.  And grew increasingly grateful for my health and the people and gods who look out for me, all the time.

Tonight, I’ll turn off the computer.  During this beautiful season, I’ll limit my computer time to one hour a day or less.  I’ll talk more, run more, sip Irish coffee, and wait a few more weeks for the first snow…