As I struggle through another night of what I shall heretofore refer to as ‘Wordlock’ (basically gridlock or traffic congestion for words…nobody says gridlock anymore. Why?) I find myself thinking that there ought to be a system in place to get kids more interested in the outside world and simultaneously push us grown folk to pause and enjoy the world. I say this because I am experiencing yet another night of eyes blurred with fatigue and strain as I flip between laptop and video game, vacillating between work and play all in front of a screen. When we broke from our routines to be together as a family it was another screen. It seems my life is lived in front of screens. My eyes argue that it is far too much.
Perhaps the solution is to get back to books. Actual paper in hand and pages being flipped. Another suggestion is to cut back on the screen time for non work things. Don’t play video games. Don’t watch TV. An even smarter suggestion would be to do less of both without sacrificing them entirely. I believe a large part of the problem is that I only experience the games for half the week at most. A lot of the time where I am at the place of gaming is spent cleaning up and running around and writing and doing sports stuff, so when I do get a moment to play I binge like a kid. This too is unhealthy both for the heart and the eyes. I mean to seek balance in this as I do in all things.
The eye pain is a good reminder that it cannot be all about the screens. Occasionally there is a life outside of screen space. It is, every so often, a good idea to live it.