Things To Do During MFW

This month's Media Free Week was fairly easy for me. I was busy enough, and tired enough, that I welcomed the quiet of a media-free house. I had the opportunity to rest and think, plan and ponder. Here is a list of things I did during Media Free Week:

1. Cooked fresh food - taking advantage of the cucumbers delivered by my generous neighbors, I made a huge batch of tzatziki, which we shared with our other neighbor.

2. Finished craft project - I finished a bag I was making for a friend, knitting the bag and then felting it. Several hours were spent bending over the sink and washing machine, hand felting wool and shaping it. I relished the physicality of the work.

3. Went to the gym - I've been off my workouts for a few weeks, and MFW was a great opportunity to get back in the swing of working out regularly.

4. Slept 8 hours - I managed to get enough sleep every night, without feeling like staying up to watch a little news, or being all pumped up from whatever movie I had seen that night.

5. Read books - Ah, this is where is gets tricky. I managed to re-read 1.5 of my favorite books. Some would say that this is all good - reading is not on our no-media list, after all. Yet I read so much, so often, that it may be considered addictive. I think I will try to limit my reading next month. (I'm not even sure that I could take a full week off of reading!)

6. Connected with friends and family - I had dinner with my neighbor, arranged a couple of upcoming dinner dates, and went to brunch with family from out of town. It was very nice to be in the moment with them all.

7. Kept house - laundry, dishes, you name it. Plus I made some small yet meaningful progress in larger house projects. For example, with the help of a friend (who wanted to borrow a book in my basement), I went through about half of our boxes in the basement, labeling their contents. I also discovered that we really have a lot of stuff in boxes that we probably don't need - fodder for another project!

Looking back, I feel a little more in control of my life, and have set in motion some good projects and plans to stay connected to the people and goals that matter to me. Hopefully I will be able to keep this momentum going throughout the month.

So. my question to you is, what will YOU do with a Media Free Week?