Hestia and....The Digital Sabbath

It's amazing what turns up
when you google 'jesus and a laptop'

I know, it seems like my ancient religions are getting mixed up.  What's the Greek goddess of the hearth doing thinking about any kind of Sabbath? Surely it should be carefree debauchery all the way for me - sex, satyrs and sacrifices?



It's been a long time since anyone in the UK really thought of a Sunday as a Day of Rest.  Everything from corner shops to supermarkets are open and trading on Sundays now.

And while that's marvellous for the busy consumer, maybe we've lost something of ourselves that has nothing to do with the observation of a religious Day of Rest.

Maybe we humans really SHOULD be spending one day out of seven doing absolutely nothing - just allowing ourselves some space to relax or get in touch with our real feelings about the stuff that is happening in our lives.

Speaking for myself, I spend a lot of time wired to the national grid: I listen to the radio, I watch TV, I indulge in the Book of The Face, I spend inordinate amounts of time checking e-mails, tweets, messages ....... and it all serves to ramp me up into a near perpetual state of wired alertness.

So much so that if I do manage to get away for a few days break with Tartarus and Sonshine, I inevitably end up taking some sort of laptop or ipad with me....just in case....and if the WIFI IS NOT WORKING?! Well, when that happened when we were down in Stoke earlier this year, I was reduced to sitting outside the campsite office on the grass, balancing my laptop on my knees.  Come on! Who am I fooling?! Am I SO addicted to the minute by minute development of conversations about international crises on facebook?

Sadly - yes.

The thought of being unplugged for more than a day or two leaves me feeling jittery and anxious.  Smack-heads are positively Zen-like in their calm next to me.

That's not right, is it? Even I can see that.

So now I am planning to adopt a Digital Sabbath.  Just for a month, to see how I get on.

One day a week, I'll be switching off the computer.  Leaving the ipad unplugged.  Leaving my lap blissfully laptop free and turning my attention to other things in my life:

My family, my friends, my luffly big dog....... my garden, books, my water colour paints..... see, it could be quite exciting!

Plus, no international crisis is likely to need me to pontificate about it on a Sunday......

What about you? Are you up for the Digital Sabbath challenge?