Not this girl.

I am unplugged.  Technologically disengaged.  Off the grid.  Out of the loop.

I am away.

Understand that today’s blog is a preemptive strike against my own self – the one who brings work everywhere.

Know anyone like that?

So today, I am coming to you from the past [Friday, June 28th, to be exact] because I intend to take the next couple of weeks to unplug to the fullest extent.  Remember when I talked about expressing myself to the fullest?  Unplugging is my way of expressing myself right now.

Because this is what I need.

I have worked out of my home, in some capacity, for the last decade.  I thrive in my private environment – though I sometimes miss the commradarie that comes from working in an office.

Home is great.  My familiar chair is awesome.  I love lighting a candle on my desk + walking around barefoot [or in Naughty Monkeys if the mood strikes me].

The flip side of that is that work is always in my face.

Oh!  There’s my desk!  Oops, there’s a few things left in that pile.  If I just sit down for a few minutes…blah, blah, blah.  And years passed.

Guess what happened?

My sons started badgering me to use my computer/iPhone/iPad every day.  “But mom, you’re on your computer!”  Urgh.

Some background:  for the first 3 years of their lives, the TV did not make an appearance in our house until after the boys were sound asleep – and even then it was minimally.

That’s right, friends, Baby Einstein + Sesame Street were lost on the twins.  And yes, we all survived.

That’s because we were engaged with one another all day long.  And I loved it.

Then they got a little bigger.

I thought a 30-minute educational program for them + some work for me?  Everyone is happy!  Yippee!

But you probably know what happened next.  If it wasn’t a few minutes of TV, it was reading on their own, or playing outside, or building a fort.

Fun?  Yes!

But where was I?  I was getting another 30-, 60-, 90-minutes of work done behind my computer.

I happen to think that some screen time is fine.  And the boys learning to play happily + safely on their own together is a skill I am proud they possess.

But I missed being in the mud with them.

So I started an experiment a few weeks ago.

I completely unplug for a good portion of the day.  Phone inside – Mom + kids outside.

Back in the mud.

My Juicy Glad-I-Caught-That:  in our element, we are way-happier people.

I love working from home.  I love the clients that I have + where I am going with my business.  It is exciting.  It allows me to be creative + thoughtful with the outside world.

And I love not working from home.  I love the children that I have + where we are going as a family.  It is exciting.  It allows me to be creative + thoughtful with young men who will soon be a part of the outside world.

Take that for a lesson, Baby Einstein!

So, if I’m not at my desk + I’m not in the mud, where am I now, you ask?

I’m on the beach with friends + family.  We are playing + laughing.  I might even be drinking a beer this very moment in time {yum}.

Don’t know about you, but I need to fully unplug in order to actually recharge.

I will be back at my laptop on the 15th – how will you unplug between now + then?

In love,

N

xoxox