For the entirety of this weekend, I unplugged, disconnected, and disengaged digitally. Before you commend me for my valor (and my dedication to this assignment), know that it was completely beyond my control. I was in a friend's wedding, nestled away in the most scenic and grid-adverse portion of Mashpee, Massachusetts. This is wild, uncharted, nature-preserved Cape Cod. My bars and battery were entirely depleted.
source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Popponesset_Beach,_Popponesset_MA.jpg
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod_National_Seashore
I would like to say I handled the art of unplugging artfully. I *was* entirely more present, although painfully more so. There were moments when a room full of girls could find nothing more interesting to talk about than the time the flower girl would arrive (her family got lost in the attempt to find us). I had knee-jerk cravings to hop on Facebook and post pictures of our makeup and hair. I wanted likes, even if there were plenty of IRL- sorry, "in real life"- likes to go around. I found that real compliments meant less to me than the digital affirmation. There were less superficial problems, too- a phone interview call dropped. My parents had no idea how to pick me up Monday morning. I had Very Important Emails that went unanswered. It would be nice to disconnect deliberately and entirely for an extended period of time, but the consequences greatly outweigh the benefits.
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