What I learned when we lived sans internet

In case I haven't talked about it enough already, CONTEXT: 

When Joseph and I got married and moved to Provo in October, we knew that Google Fiber was on its way to town. This meant free internet, which was seriously exciting for poor college students, so we decided to just not sign up with any internet companies until Fiber came. We knew installation would begin in January, but in January, we learned that our area of town would actually have to wait until March. We decided that we could survive three more months of using campus and parental internets. By the time our free internet was finally installed, we had just passed our six monthiversary of internet-free marriage. (Okay, really just of marriage, but I'm talking about the interwebs here.) 

Pretty much our entire neighborhood got their Fiber installed on the same day and it was adorable:

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As I return from the land without wifi, I bear good news: living without constant access to the internet is easier than it sounds! 

I realized that I only need the internet for one thing: homework. And homework can be done on campus if one is willing to ditch all the other things they use the internet for. Alternatively, homework can be done at home, late at night, without the internet, and then taken to campus internet at almost-midnight to turn it in (not recommended)...

I did not need the internet to stay in touch with friends and family. Phone calls, text messages, and visits to Orem did suffice. Instagram, Facebook, and blogging--wonderful though they can be for staying connected--are not necessary.

I did not need the internet to stay current on major events. Not that I bothered to stay particularly current during my internet-free time, but I did suddenly realize the beauty of newspapers. I even read one, once! News videos and whatever is going viral today--good though they may be for current events--are not necessary. 

I did not even need the internet to cook. But I already blogged about this shocking revelation here. 

Basically, it came down to this crucial idea: I did not need the internet to keep up with the world. Nearly all of the purposes for which I normally used the internet were--it turns out--completely optional. I had some ridiculous notion that I needed the internet to function as a human being, and what a joy it was to discover that I actually needed no such thing!

Perhaps even more crucial was this idea: I not need even to keep up with the world. It hurt my little heart for about one week that everyone could go on posting stuff that I would never have the time or means to sit down and read. And then I realized that I was being ridiculous. The world always goes on spinning, with or without me, and that's fine. I don't need all of that, and I'm fine with all of that not needing me. I learned to relish the quiet evenings at home with Joe, the distraction-free writing of school papers...heck, I even learned to relish that sense of falling behind everyone else. It was downright freeing to just cut the worry of "keeping up" completely out of my life, and it helped me with some other major goals I'm working on right now. It was great "me" time, but not in a way that felt self-centered. Does any of this make sense?

Anyway, now that that's all on the table, it has been nice to slip back into internet living in the last month or so. I have especially loved jumping back into blogging (which, as you all know, is strictly for the benefit of my posterity) and back into commenting back and forth with my family. I'm taking the fact that these two things were my instantly most-loved internet privileges as direction for my internet priorities. I do my homework, I keep up with the fam, and I blog what and when I want to; I try to let everything else remain optional. And my goal is to make that mentality last beyond one month of internet living.


Now, the real question: am I being a drama queen because I once lived six months without the internet at my house? You can answer this honestly. I can take it. 

And just for good measure, some inspiring lyrics from Kip: "I love technology. But not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology. Always and forever."