| 141 | Are You One? | 2009-10-23 |
With the release of Ken Burns "The National Parks America’s Best Idea" came a number of articles on the parks. My readings finally had me browsing to the videophilia.org site. So, are you one? By reading this blog, your chances of becoming one have probably increased. A videophilia is:
"The new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media."
I try to balance my computer use and my love for the outdoors, because each are important parts of my life. At times I even try to mix the two activities. I will try to find the enjoyment and passion of being outdoors on my computer, but am rarely successful. And still other times I will try to find the creativity and explosion of knowledge I find using my computer in the outdoors, and am also unsuccessful. For example: last spring (09) I longed to be outdoors as I searched the internet while planning our coming summer trip. When summer came and we were on the trip, I longed to have computer time just to catch up with my life. I needed time for both activities. I needed balance.
A few tips we have used:
- My wife and I have started doing a weekly hike. We are basically making ourselves get out at least once a week. It is good for our souls.
- When winter comes, don’t be afraid to hike with a flashlight. There are some great new flashlights and headlights that make any day hike possible at night (as long as the park is still open at night.)
- Buy a dog (or rent one, we have one that is a great walker, we could probably rent ours.) Dogs give you a good excuse to walk. I generally take ours on three twenty to thirty minute walks each day.
- Join an outdoor club of your choice. They are filled with others enthusiast all trying to get outdoors.
- Do your own yard work.
- Walk or ride a bike for errands.
You know, we didn’t give any tips for staying inside and using the computer more...huh, we probably don’t need any help in that area!
The videophilia site is small and easy to navigate. Give it a try. I will probably blog about it again soon.
link - http://www.videophilia.org/Home_Page.php
Happy trails.