Nature Deficit Disorder?

I just read a frightening article in The Sun magazine, where the man interviewed talks about the effect the Internet is having on our brains. He claims that the Internet encourages us to flit from information to information, becoming ever more productive - but that the end result is that we may lose our ability to be introspective. This is a frightening concept to me, especially since I see it in myself. He says that he notices that he is losing his ability to get lost in a good book, because the process is slower and more introspective -- there is a slight pressure to be moving on to another piece of information. I notice this in myself as well. I'm less able to enjoy the types of books that I love, character studies where the writing is beautiful, but maybe nothing much happens.

I've been noticing this with my kids and video games as well. Here's a little example from yesterday. My kids were with their best friends. My oldest son, E, was playing his Nintendo DS. I told him, 'hey, you should put that away so that you can play with your friend while he's here'. I then moved on to something else (likely got lost on the computer for awhile). I heard the kids shrieking and having a blast and thought nothing of it. When I came back around a half hour or so later, there was E, still playing his DS while the other kids were having a blast. Then their mom was there and they left. I explained to E that he had missed an opportunity - that the other kids were having such a great time, and he had missed it, in favor of something that wasn't even real. As I watched his eyes fill with tears, I understood that I am enabling my children to get lost in the world of make believe. They might never have what I had - a childhood of swimming, finding things in the backyard, reading and talking.

Richard Louv wrote a book called "Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder". I can certainly relate. I honestly can't remember the last time our family spent time in nature. Honestly. We force our kids to go outside and they ask us how long they have to be out there. It never happens that they lose track of time and forget to come in.

This all makes me a little sad, and I understand that it begins with me. I have one business where I must keep client notes (on a software on my computer), amass continuing education units (courses online) and another business where I can keep tabs on everything that is happening with my online software. When I'm not doing all that, I'm trying to see how all my friends are doing on Facebook. I complain that I don't have time to read, but really it's that my computer is sucking up all my time. I have completely and totally lost any connection with nature that I ever had. My kids look to me for an example, and they aren't seeing me doing what I'm asking them to do.

So I'm grounding myself. (and yes, I do understand that it's ironic that I'm posting this on the computer!) I'm going to limit my time spent on the computer. There is definitely work I need to do here, but I can be more systematic about it, and stop when I'm done, instead of just cruising around to see what else is there. I'm going to make an effort to be outside with my kids - hiking or at the park - at least once a week for an extended period. This isn't going to be easy -- my life isn't positioned to make great changes or to find extra activities. But I'm sure going to try -- otherwise my kids will grow up having a relationship with Zelda, and forgetting that they're human.