You must should stop reading this right now. Well, stop reading after you read this news that explains why you shouldn't be reading anything online today.
Why? Because this is pretty important and pretty interesting and, well, it'll explain why today is the one day of the year you shouldn't be reading Web news or texting or emailing or streaming music or watching a video on your laptop or playing Candy Crush on the smartphone or posting yet another cat photo to Facebook or paying bills online.
Today is National Day of Unplugging. The annual event, now in its sixth year, is a 24-hour celebration of doing anything and everything as long as it is not digital--and it includes wireless activity just for those thinking there's some backdoor or cheat.
Always held on the first Friday in March, the 24-hour National Day of Unplugging runs from sundown on the first Friday through sundown on the first Saturday of March.
The brainchild of 'Reboot,' it's designed to urge people to return to the days of when life was not one of digital devices and digital communications and digital activity.
Reboot is a Jewish organization focused on turning off electronics and not working for one full 24-hour day and instead focusing on the true joys of life--family, friends, fun. Yes, spending time with family, friends and playing games without cords, communicating without a device, making a memory that won't be snapped and posted on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram. You get the idea.
"This year we expect at least 20,000 people will participate in unplugging activities worldwide, but the reach is much broader," Tanya Schevitz, a Reboot spokesperson, said. "We're seeing people coming to our website from all over the world."
Simply the challenge is this: Don't use a plugged-in or wireless device for 24 hours. That means, yes, the smartphone, DVR, PC, laptop, tablet, phablet, GPS, gaming console, e-reader, iPod music players, and yes, even the Walkman and that dust-covered DVD/CD player still sitting on your living room shelf.
National Day of Unplugging is a day to enjoy in ways you enjoyed life before computing and digital communications and streaming services became an integral, deeply woven fabric in the tapestry of life.
According to Schevitz last year there were 14,500 tweets reaching 29 million people on the subject, which obviously was a breach of National Day of Unplugging but yet excusable if it does result in at least one person cutting the cord to celebrate life without the digital influence that permeates each minute of most lives.
To spread the word Reboot offers a downloadable sign you can print out, note what you're going to do during National Day of Unplugging, snag a digital shot and show it around the Internet or simply post it in your home or car window.
Ok, so now you can go, unplug, shut down. Don't read anything else online. Enjoy National Day of Unplugging in true fashion.
Oh, but before you do all that of course feel free to share this article on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, your blog, with all your email, IM and Google+ contacts and message everyone you know the url. Then unplug.
Photo Credit: National Day of Fun Unplugging | https://nationaldayofunplugging.com
