Escaping from the digital haze

There was a time when we were not tied to computers for our daily newsfeeds, entertainment etc. When we did not carry cell phones or smartphones around in order to constantly check our emails and texts.

There was a time when switching off the television and walking out the front door meant, in most instances, disconnecting from the 'buzz' of modern life. Away from the landline telephone you became uncontactable. As weird as that sounds today, that was once the norm.

Nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses can play tricks, but I'm sure that is not the case when I state that the relatively unwired world of the recent past - and we are talking only 20 to 25 years ago at most - was a pleasant place to be.

At the time there was a freedom I took for granted. That freedom was being able to enjoy downtime from work, from social networks (a term that has come into its own in these internet days). 'Your time' could be appreciated and spent doing any number of activities, or even no activity.

Long walks or runs. Sitting and reading a newspaper from cover to cover, or a chapter of a book. Watching a sunrise or sunset.

Of course, all of the above can still be done. But if you are carrying a cell phone, as most of us do these days, you are forever aware of that portal to the electronic world being close at hand and demanding attention and checking.

Only on vacations do I manage to successfully break away from the digital world's umbilical cord. Although I have a cell phone, I switch it off and ignore it unless an emergency calls. I avoid computer terminals and the temptation to check emails.

It feels invigorating. It feels like reconnecting with a life - hearing birds chirping again, taking in my surroundings and appreciating just 'being'.

Day-to-day, away from vacation time, it is harder. Work life impinges on downtime much more, even if only through the habit of checking emails or missed calls.

But I still make time when I can to leave my cell phone at home and go wander for an hour or so, or sit in the great outdoors and feel the sun, or the breeze, against my skin and enjoy the freedom of escaping from the 21st century's digital haze. Those moments are a small window back to a less frantic existence, a small window that I aspire to expand.