distractions and sensory overload
One of the reasons I like getting away from home during the holidays is leaving behind the distractions that are a part of that space: computer (internet; games …); tv/dvds; chores (those blasted dishes and other cleaning).
I usually bring a book or two–this year it’s Michael Snow’s almost Cover to Cover and Henry Jenkin’s Convergence Culture (recently discussed on the WPA-list; Jenkins and Gee have been on there recently, which makes me feel as though I working in the right area at the right moment . . . so I better get to work).
It’s nice to sit down in a comfy leather chair (”oh, what i could do in my office with this chair,” I think. [intellectually, folks!]) with a hot cup of coffee and spend some quiet time reading and considering.
The slow life is something that has always attracted me, and its value becomes clearer when away from email and work which, ironically, always seem to help me to be more productive and creative and clearer in my thinking. I think of this spatially, almost as a firewall, blocking out what might seem to be attacking the senses, the processors, and disabling the ability to function as desired.
