Today is “National Day of Unplugging.”

A brainchild of the Sabbath Manifesto, National Day of Unplugging is “a creative project designed to slow down our lives in an increasingly hectic world.” It’s based around 10 core principles, beginning with AVOID TECHNOLOGY.

At first I was turned off by the all-caps, blanket admonition. I’m not a gadget-geek, but I do love creating stuff on my laptop, reading (and writing) blogs, trading emails with friends …

Why give that up, if it’s not a problem? I can quit anytime I want!

But then I read further: It’s not really about avoiding technology, per se. It’s more about deliberately refocusing on the things that technology has replaced. It’s about spending face-to-face time with family and friends. Nurturing ourselves. Enjoying the outdoors. Drinking wine, eating bread … it’s about finding silence, and giving back.

National Day of Unplugging is about mindfulness, really. Welcome to 21^st-century zen!

Of course, like all things 21st-century, it comes with a commercial angle: I was amused by the cellphone sleeping bag. And I laughed out loud at the irony of their “check out” application. Want less technology? There’s an app for that!

Still … I love the concept of unplugging as an exercise in mindfulness and self-discipline. So I’ll be “going dark” at sundown tonight and will report back on Sunday with the results.

In the meantime, I’m putting an extra post in the hopper for Saturday. After all, I’ve also committed to posting something every day.

Happy National Day of Unplugging!