Right then and there I decided that I was going to leave the radio off, I was not going to plug in the iPod and for the rest of the week I was going to put a self-inflicted ban on electronic media. Here's the deal: no radio, no TV including DVDs, Internet only to check email/Myspace/Facebook, and no iPod. I just heard a collective 'gasp' at that last one.

A week without music? A musician?!

Not exactly.

My own music and my studio are not on the chopping block. In fact that is what I plan to spend the week doing; diligently working on my album.

I am not attempting to live without any recreation: reading books other analog activities are ok. Maybe I'll put a puzzle together and spend more time playing with the cats.

There are two things that may be a little difficult. First I have gotten in the habit over the past fifteen years of eating in front of the television. It has become and automatic comfort-zone to click the TV on when I sit down with food and I may twitch a bit at first. Maybe I'd better avoid soups!

The second challenge is going to be my workout. When I do my run up the mountain on Wednesday it won't be a big deal. My iPod battery died about three-quarters through my run last week and I actually enjoyed being in the space around me, hearing my feet on the trail, hearing birds and snippets of conversation as people passed. It will be in the gym doing my aerobic machines that might be painfully tedious.

This whole idea, I suspect, was put in the back of my head when last night I lamented that Audra kept leaving the room for long periods of time. She said "I'll be happy to stay here, but turn the TV off. I was ensconced in my little world; the
Internet on my lap and the comforting din of the TV across the room. I reluctantly turned off the TV but her company was worth it. On a larger level, the idea has been brewing subconsciously in my brain for the past few weeks. I have been having rather deep email conversations with a friend of mine and we have been discussing the concept of life being full of noise, not just sound waves but distractions and abstract busyness that drowns out what life really is and what it can be.

If anyone would care to join me in this experiment and turn off some stuff this week, I wouldn't mind the company, if you'd rather be the control group I can hardly blame you. Post a comment below and when I write the corresponding blog a week from now you can post your experiences then too.

If nothing else it will be a different experience, a break in the routine. Something good almost always follows.