Self-professed “communication junkie” Dima Epstein is proposing a CommFree Day on the first Saturday of every month, beginning August 4. The idea is that, for those of us who love media and information technology, but also understand on some level that it shapes and shifts how we are in the world and can swamp our other priorities, that one day a month without our computers, cellphones, and TVs would be an enlightening and refreshing experience, a way to gain perspective. Or as Dima puts it,

I am not suggesting doing that out of hatred towards technology… Quite the opposite. I suggest that because I think we need this break to reflect on where we are heading and reflect on the role media and information technologies play in our lives. I think it is a healthy practice, and the key for it success is it becoming a practice…

My additional suggestion was that, if you’ve take part in CommFree Day on Saturday, then Sunday should be a “Day of Attunement” — what I want is for people to spend a day using their communication technologies all they want, but doing so in a way that is attuned to the role they’re playing, to how they mediate their relationships, their citizenship, their social identity.

Here endeth the lesson. I’m going to stop reading Dima’s blog and get back to work — on my computer.