Media Binge and Fast

Participating in the media binge and fast was a very refreshing experience. The media binge was not difficult for me to do at first. With the weather being dreary and not having many classes to go to, I had no difficulties just staying in and binge watching Netflix. The first two days of the binge were enjoyable, but the last day I was kind of getting sick of just being in my room and watching movies and shows. I live in the dorms without a roommate, so being alone in my room for that amount of time started to get very lonely and I was sick of just starring at a screen. I called my family and friends from home multiple times as I always do, and frequently checked up on my social media and group messages. When I woke up in the morning, before I would get out of bed, I got caught up on all my feeds and messages. This prolonged my day from starting for a good 30 minutes. After the third day of my binge, I was ready to start the fast but also dreading it. I definitely wanted to cut back on my media time but getting rid of it all together seemed too hard to do. To my surprise, the fast was easier to do than I thought it would be. Without being able to have my computer to use when I had nothing else to do, I had to find other ways to spend my time. I made more of an effort to hang out with my friends and just got more things done in general. When I woke up in the morning, I didn't waste time looking at my phone and actually got up and going earlier than I normally do. I spent one of the days studying at Starbucks with my friend, and I didn't miss my phone at all. When I was in my room at night and wanted to do something, instead of being able to be entertained by watching a show, I went and knocked on my friend's door instead. The hardest part of the fast for me was not being able to text or call people. Although I never texted people just to have a conversation, I still had to use my phone to text my friends to see if they wanted to hang out. If I was to truly stick to the fast and not text people at all, I definitely would have felt left out because there would be no way for me to make plans with people. I also had a hard time not calling my family and friends. Whenever I have time to spare I always like to call and see how they are doing. Through this experience I realized how much I depended on media for entertainment instead of spending that time to be with people and work on my relationships. I also concluded that having the ability to use my phone for communication is a necessary and great tool that I have, but it shouldn't be my only form of communicating with people and as my main form of developing relationships. Overall I really enjoyed having a reason to take a step back from the world of media and see how much of an effect it has on my life.