UNPLUGGED

Frances Amodeo

Understanding Literature

Dr. Ellis

9-27-12

Unplugged

            When I was first presented with the iExamen, I thought, “Self-observation can’t be that hard,” but boy how soon I realized that I was very wrong!  I thought it would be something like before you go to bed you reflect upon everything that happened, what you loved about your day and what you wish might have been a little different.  Instead it was a whole day of self-analysis, and for me, throughout the day, it became a constant challenge to improve, funny enough, one of the ten Jesuit core values. 

So I decided to take this challenge on headfirst.  I chose Sunday because Sundays generally tend to be the busiest and most stressful days for me.  I decided that on this day, not only would I self-examine but I would cut myself off from electronics completely. At first I was a little skeptical as to how this would all pan out because the first thing many of us do when we wake up in the morning is check our phones.  But I was determined to succeed!

After only a few hours of unplugging myself from my Iphone, FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram and my Loyola email, I noticed that I had became so much more relaxed.  Not only did I feel less stressed mentally, I felt less stressed physically because I started to realize that my breathing was slower than its usual Monday to Friday pace.  I also noticed that I was much calmer when speaking with others.  It became so apparent to me that my speech was less frantic and that I had an easier time getting my point across to others.  Maybe it’s because I’m half Italian that I use a lot of body language to often express what I’m saying, but I noticed that even that had been subconsciously taken down a notch.  I noticed that I spoke a lot more “English,” and a lot less “teenybopper.” Using little to none “lol’s or ttyl’s” in conversation, to be quite honest, was so refreshing! Also, It didn’t hit me until much later on while I was in mass, but that my appearance reflected my mood.  I was in a very comfortable and subtle colored maxi dress, which screamed “I’M RELAXED AND CALM EVERYONE!”

At then end of the day, I couldn’t believe all the little things that took place that wound up adding to big things and really making a significant difference in my day.  As a result of such a successful day of self-observation, I’ve challenged myself to do at least one hour of self-observation a day, and so it’s been the best thing for me!