Disconnection

by Clare Langley-Hawthorne

I had the most frustrating experience this weekend as I returned to Australia only to discover that the painters who had been painting the inside of our house had not only failed to return any of the furniture to its  rightful place but had also managed to disconnect our wifi. After 15 hours flying solo with my twin 7-year olds in tow I can’t say I was  thrilled to face either prospect – but it was the disconnection from the outside world that I found the hardest to bear. 


After trying and failing to reconnect the wifi (picture a heap of tangled wires, various Apple, Sonos and wifi devices on the ground and me, tech-moron extraordinaire, standing over it all in despair) I found myself hunched over my iPhone desperately trying to send email and texts and reading the news in 4pt font. I never thought of myself as addicted to being online but once I was disconnected I realized just how ingrained my need for internet access 24/7 had become. 


It’s amazing how everything I do – from my role as secretary to the local American Women’s Auxiliary to my writing job – depends on email. I couldn’t email the agenda for our board meeting or send my latest proposal to my agent. I was truly (if only temporarily) off the grid…and it kinda freaked me out. 


Of course, my husband has now managed to instruct me long-distance how to restore all necessary connections so I am back online but not before I realized (sadly) just how reliant I had become.


So what about you? How would you cope being ‘disconnected’ – would you revel in the freedom of not being tethered online or would you, like me, stare into the void and blink…

15 thoughts on “Disconnection

  1. I think it’s good for the sole to completely disconnect. I have chosen holiday locations for that very reason – no Internet; no cellphone coverage. Having said that, they were always planned breaks, and on the occasions that our Internet connection at home has gone down it can be very frustrating. It’s normally at the most inconvenient times.

  2. Nice thing about Alaska is that going off the grid is fairly easy. Last summer I spent three days kayaking in Prince William Sound outside of Whittier. It was only about an hour drive followed by a forty minute water taxi and we were so far off the grid the emergency sat-phone one of the scout leaders brought barely got signal. No cell phone, no email, no tv. But there were Orkas and Seals around us, and a Bald Eagle’s nest right above our camp.

    While tech stuff is a major part of my daily life, I really prefer to be off the grid whenever I can, which up here is pretty easy to do. I think I’d get used to the idea of permanent disconnect pretty quick.

  3. I’d feel very isolated if I was disconnected, but I think I could cope for now. I’m not dependent on the internet, I just find it very useful at this point. When it’s time for me to find an agent, on the other hand…

  4. I had an Internet issue not long ago. I could only work offline, but that still allowed me to write without the interruption of tweets, emails, etc. It was wonderful. I had to get used to a different mode of working & break times, but I really liked it. Made me realize some nasty time drain habits.

    Realistically, I couldn’t stay offline forever. Proposals, promo travel plans, & other communication needs would eventually become necessary. I’m more addicted to writing than to the Internet.

    My little interruption made me think about taking a writing holiday to write an entire book without that connection–to be 100% into the project with no other distraction, including the everyday nudges of life, work, family, & friends.

  5. Clare,
    Sorry for your troubles.

    Truth is, I turn OFF my wireless until I get my word count in for the day. If I don’t it’s too much of a temptation to check in here, and my other favorite web spots, and I find that steals my creativity away if I do all that first.

    I like the idea of going away and staying disconnected for a few days, but if I didn’t get my daily dose of TKZ, well…

  6. Clare, I’m really sorry that you experienced that. What a mess.

    I am the IT guy at our house so I have to deal with such matters. The difference between mechanics and technology is that with mechanics, you get out tools an fix it or hire someone else to do so; with technology, just turn it off, wait five minutes, and turn it back on. If you’re lucky, all is well.

    The biggest problems I’ve had with internet disconnect is when I’m travelling. Wireless internet in hotels is a dicey thing. I don’t do well with being away from the web at all. When I’m off of the grid, getting back on usually takes priority to everything else.

  7. Sorry to hear about your disconnect issues, Clare. Sometimes the worst part is coming home after an extended Internet disconnect to find mountains of emails to wade through.

  8. Clare, I think I don’t need the Internet until it goes down, then I go crazy until I get re-connected. It’s true–“The world is too much with us, late and soon.”
    And Joe H., you forgot one important difference between mechanical vs. electrical problems. With the former, hitting them with a hammer sometimes works, but with the latter that can prove fruitless and sometimes dangerous.
    Thanks, Clare, for sharing.

  9. Going offline can be frustrating. I try to view it as a message from what my friend Dan refers to as the Road Gods that it’s time for me to read or take a walk or watch a ball game. Something not internet-related. It can be a nice break.

  10. Yeah, it’s hard to go without internet. Cuz even if I’m writing offline I will often find myself needing to quickly look up some piece of info.

    But we’d probably all be better off to periodically have tech-outs in our lives.

  11. Being back online is like having a cozy comforter I can cling to once more…which is pathetic I know! I am all for voluntary disconnection. When I am on a tropical island it feels great…but at home when there is work to be done, not so much…:)

  12. We’re all becoming hopelessly addicted to Internet and phone technologies. I was in a doctor’s waiting room today–when I looked around, I realized that every one of the half dozen people in the room was interacting with an electronic device. It made me realize how tightly we’ve all become tethered to the Machine!

  13. When in southern Chile, I was without Internet for two days. I thought I was going to chew the leg off a chair!!

    Amazing how quickly we get plugged in. That said, I still have a side that craves anonymity and silence and warm breezes. . . only for a little while though! LOL!!

    Great post–a bit frightening.

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