In our modern world full of cell phones, Internet communications, 24/7 media, social networking and email, there are many entities that have created business goals to provide 100% Availability for these systems and utilities. While perhaps valuable as a service where competition is high and engendering loyal customers is key, somehow the assumption has crept into our culture that we as consumers must therefore be available to receive these services or we are 'missing out' on the experience.
In just a short period of time, we have gone from being a society where people have substantial periods of what I will call "Unavailable Time" to having none at all. The vast majority of people in America are now able to be reached 24/7 via some form of communication at a moment's notice. This is not a comment on the lack of value or quality of such services - I will suggest that if they were not of value we would not pay money for them. Simply taking a look at a household's annual spending for these services can give us an idea of the relative worth (i.e. many people will pay their cell phone bill over their gas/electric bill when push comes to shove). What has gone relatively unnoticed is the cost to our own lives of not having this 'Unavailable Time', specifically with regard to the ability to take a 'break' on a regular basis. There is a cost to being 100% available and it often shows itself in depression, illness, lack of well-being and a general sense of malaise that many people experience on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, this cost has crept up on us while we were enjoying our new 'toys'. The wave of these new forms of communication has hit us so fast that we have not had time to absorb the impact that this has had upon us. I can remember a time in just my short lifetime where I could turn on the TV and get the 'bars', where "You've got Mail" was what the postman said and where "We're not right here now, please leave a message at the beep and we'll get back to you when we get home" actually meant 'leave a message'! Taking a drive in your car or taking a walk in the woods actually meant that you could not be reached for a period of time. It was still possible to 'summer' as a verb at a location where bills would not be received and you had to take cash out of your bank account to fund the vacation/get-away.
As an exercise to illustrate this wave of change, think back to a special moment from your childhood to a time when you did not have a cell phone or email or 24/7 cable TV. Choose an event, either in solitude or with friends/family and remember how it felt to be in that moment and experiencing that special time. Relive that moment and let yourself be young again with the freedom and energy of youth. Then imagine your cell phone ringing/vibrating in your pocket the middle of that event... this is the world that many of us are living in today. In that moment we would very likely reach for the cell phone and sever the moment - instinct now has us responding to the cord of connection to a 24/7 communications culture.
Fortunately, we always have choice. It does requires a conscious choice in today's culture, but we have the choice nonetheless. You can indeed choose periods of Unavailable Time, if only for brief periods that will enable you do disconnect and experience part of that freedom and energy that was a common occurrence not too long ago. For in saying "No" to 100% Availability, you are actually making yourself more readily available to Source and your True Self. It is unlikely that you will cancel your cell phone or Facebook account, but you could turn it off for periods at a time - along with your home phone, Internet and Cable TV. You could do this while you are meditating or reading or walking in nature, or you could just do this when you are in your car, having coffee/drinks with a friend or having dinner with your family at home.
More proactively, you could even decide to go on a long weekend trip with your significant other and not tell anyone where you are going, leave your cell phones turned off (in the glove box for emergencies if you are so inclined) and not check email until you get home. For those of you who have children and/or dependents - you could make arrangements to have them cared for (or you could bring them with you without their cell phones & laptops) and perhaps just leave an emergency number where you will be staying. Your parents were able to figure this out and their parents before them, etc., etc. The point is simply that you could choose some 'Unavailable Time' but it will likely have to be a conscious choice where previously it was a common occurrence.
As an exercise in validation, you could just 'try it out', one step at a time. My suggestion would be to start with just 15-20 minutes a day of 'Unavailable Time' for 2 weeks and see what you begin to notice. You could then try adding-in 1-2 hour blocks weekly with 2-3 day blocks a few times a year. Even the act of planning a 'retreat' for several months in advance or a 'vacation' from availability for a few years in the future can hold a bright spot of possibility in your future. Each conscious act of Choice towards connecting to Source grounds you and makes the next subsequent act that much easier. Time builds upon time and suddenly new patterns begin to emerge. This is the magic of 'Unavailable Time' - you never know what you may find if you do not seek.
All the Best,
Whitney
© 2012 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu
