Tuesday 25 January 2011

Real Life

Do I spend too much time on-line?
My blogging break didn’t last long, because here I am: back again! Blame it on author Samuel Park’s delightful blog ‘Daily Pep for Writers’. He spoke of his short absence from blogging because his “off-line life” needed attention.

Hmmm. I like that.

“Off-line life”. It gives equal importance to both social media and the other life.

I've always differentiated between my “real life” and my “net life”. Somehow that implies the time I spend and the on-line friends I’ve made on the 'net are less than real.

They’re not. My life on-line is as important to me as the life I live beyond the Internet. It’s as real too!

But, for now, I must take my leave again, as my off-line life is still demanding my attention…

Free Image from ClipArt

15 comments:

CA Heaven said...

Yes, the offline life is important too, and it can be very enjoyable. It's about finding the right balance. In our family we're 4 persons and 5 computers. But we also have 17 pairs of skis in total (12 alpine, 5 cross country), so the offline life still has majority >:D

Cold As Heaven

septembermom said...

It is a balance in many ways. Enjoy Judy!

Claire Robyns said...

Nice to see you popping in here again, Judes, even for a fleeting visit. Ooh, and I also like that term: off-line. Sometimes I wish I could take my entire life off-line just for a day or so, lol

Judith Mercado said...

Hee hee. I'm supposedly on blogging break too but here I am. Perhaps I took too seriously Anne Allen's advice not to disappear completely but to show up periodically. And then of course there are my favorite bloggers whose blogs I just have to read and comment on. And well you see my predicament ...
Judy

Damaria Senne said...

Nice to see you back, Judy. I like the way you and Samuel Park describe the offline and online lives. My offline life could use some attention too. Actually, it's the weeds in my garden that could do with my attention, but it feels more fun chatting with friends right now instead of working in the garden.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Judy .. good to see the blink online again before you flutter off to essential off-line peoples .. life can be like that.

Look after yourself and I love the leopard - the art is superb .. cheers hilary

Sarah Laurence said...

How funny: off-line life. Enjoy yours!

Glynis Jolly said...

I agree with you -- that online time is as real as offline time. But -- more often than not, offline time demands my immediate attention where online time can wait. I still schedule online time in my day but still not quite as important as cleaning up the hairball one of my kitties have just made.

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

COLD: Balance! That’s almost a swear word to me. Finding that precious Golden Mean in all things is a real challenge. But…17 pairs of skis? Where do you keep them all?

KELLY: Yes, “balance” is my new mantra when it comes to on-lime/off-line time!

CLAIRE: Hah! I know exactly what you mean! Wouldn’t it be so easy if we could just say to Life’s Obligations when it comes knocking: sorry, I’m off-line now!

JUDY: That’s my predicament too. If I stay off-line for too long, who knows *what* I’m missing on my favourite blogs???

DAMARIA: *Anything* is more fun than working in the garden…can’t stand the dirt under my fingernails. To my Mom, though, gardening (even pulling out weeds) is her therapy!

HILARY: Fuz Caforio is the artist who did the leopard. If you go to my “interesting Links” page when you have time one day, click on Husband’s blog, you’ll see the polar bear Fuz did for Husband, and then further down there’s a link to Fuz’s own website. He is such a talented local artist! Hope all well on the home front!

SARAH: I’ll do my best!:)

GLYNIS: Yup! I had the hairball issue demanding attention yesterday afternoon. Poor old HRH Theodorable was not a happy kitty until she’d spat it up. What we do for our furkids!

Helen Ginger said...

Enjoy your time off-line. Only a few years ago, I would not have believed you if you said I'd spend so much time online. And now, here I am. Taking a break is good, I think. We need it to reconnect with our off-line family and friends.

Marilyn Brant said...

I love that phrase "off-line life," too, Judy! Sometimes I try to remember what I did with my extra time before I got a computer and an Internet connection... Thinking of you and wishing you good things until you can rejoin the blogosphere again ;). xo

lotusgirl said...

I take blog breaks when I need them. I was off for about a month during the holidays. Thanks for taking the time to drop by my blog today. Time is precious. I like the phrase "off-line life" as well.

Caryn said...

What a good point! It's easy to dismiss your online social life because you can log on when you want and log off when you're sick of it - something you can't always do with real-life friends and family.

Good luck getting caught up!

Paul Greci said...

Off line or on line, one of the things I love about your blog is that you are engaged in life!!

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

HELEN: I’m really trying to find that balance between on-line and of-line time. Sometimes I can’t believe how often I “lose” a few hours on-line. How time flies when you’re having fun!

MARILYN: Yes, the amount of spare time I have available when I’m in one of my “off-line” phases is incredible. What *did* we do with our days before we had computers?

LOIS: Sorry I haven’t been to your blog for a while. Sometimes I miss good posts too, because there just isn’t enough time to visit everyone! (so many blogs, so little time!)

CARYN: Lovely to have you with us on the blog! I must confess I love the convenience of on-line life (it’s temptingly more convenient then off-line life at times: my on-lien friends never phone me in tears just as I’m about to serve dinner!)

PAUL: Not as much as I’d like to be! Sometimes I have to sleep…