My Earth Hour

Well I have to admit, that I'm a bit disappointed with this year's Earth Hour. For as much exposure as 'the hour' seemed to receive, I was expecting a little more from my city. Most people didn't bother shutting off and the lights still blared from most of the major shopping centres. Some people were good, but I had to laugh when I saw people watching tv with all the lights off.

For me, Earth Hour means more than just turning the lights off. I like to use the hour and completely unplug from the world; shut my phone off, turn off all form of communication or distraction, and find other ways to occupy my mind for that one hour per year.

This year was a bit more productive than last I have to say though.

Last year I think all I did was fold laundry by candlelight, drink tea, and stare out the window like a cat. But this year I not only folded laundry by candlelight and drank tea, I read a few chapters of a few books I'm reading at the moment, I read my tarot cards hoping that would bring me a bit of clarity to life's questions, and for the last 15minutes of the hour, I just sat there listening to silence.

If I had a family (or if my boyfriend hadn't been playing hockey tonight), I would bring out the board games or get back to the simple days of just talking. Life goes by so fast when there's work to do, or places to go, or people to text, we forget to take the time and really connect with the important things (and people) in our lives, including ourselves.

I think Earth Hour should be more than just once a year, it should be a way of life. Life's tasks can wait an hour, they're not going anywhere. And we all survived without life's technologies and 'to do lists' up to this point, so it won't kill us to not only shut off, but shut down and unplug from the world for a short amount of time...if only for ourselves.