Lack of internet...a good thing

For the past week and a bit (nearly 2 weeks) we have had no Internet. It was a Friday afternoon and my husband and I were surfing the net and then suddenly the Internet just stopped working for no apparent reason. It was altogether very frustrating for both of us as we are (he he he) addicted to the internet...(there I said it). My husband called our internet provider to see what the problem was and seeing that it was after hours they weren't there. Unfortunate for us. He did lodge a technical error complaint though. We waited all weekend, eagerly looking forward to the internet working again. But alas it was not to be. Annoyingly enough we were plagued with constant voice recorded phone calls from our internet provider informing us that they were working on the problem. It got rather annoying, to the point that I eventually hung up when I realised what it was.
Days went by and we heard nothing, absolutely nothing. I was getting rather frustrated as I needed the internet to finish some assignments that were due (and still are and are late now). I urged my trusty husband to ring our internet provider again to find out what was happening. They weren't entirely sure what was going on either...so we waited. Whilst waiting my husband and I did some figuring out of our own as to why our internet may not be working. We realised that it was in fact our Router that was not working. After much figuring out and phone calls and also a visit from Telstra (aren't we lucky) we finally sent our broken router back to the company we bought it off and spent the next few days waiting for our new one. When it finally arrived (Wednesday 25th June) I was so glad. Unfortunately I had to wait until my husband came home from work to use the internet as I didn't know how to set it up wirelessly...etc. He had been messing around with it before and had changed the password also and I didn't know the password.

During that time without internet I got to the point where I didn't know what to do with myself...I couldn't work on my assignments as I needed to do research on the internet. It gave me lots of time to relax and do things I had been wanting to do for ages but hadn't. Isn't it interesting how pointless surfing of the internet can waste so much time and when it comes to doing something worthwhile - "I don't have time." Goodness me...I'm a silly.

Not having the internet turned out to be a good thing for me. One afternoon I set up my art studio something I have been meaning to do ever since we moved here, but haven't because "I don't have time." It was so much fun setting it up and putting various things on the walls to inspire creativity and also setting up my sound system (small might I add). It consists of small ipod speakers and my ipod. It isn't the most amazing sound system but at least it plays all my favourite music, which in turn releases my creativity. It didn't take me very long to set up my art studio, maybe 3 hours at the most. Once it was done though, the happiness I felt could not be described. I felt so free, so alive and real. I also had the biggest flow of creative ideas I had had in a long time and am now considering creating some of these ideas.

I had finally created my own creative space, a place where I can be free to be me, to express myself through opinions, ideas and of course some form of art medium. A place I can make a mess in and not worry too much, a place I can think what I want, do what I want and be what I want. I did not realise how important it was to me to have a space that is purely mine to create, think, express and mainly just be...in.

Here is my art studio...a glance into my creative world.







My desk - where all the planning takes place.



My creative wall with some of my artworks on them.



After all being creative is the joy of my life.

I have found it hard now that I have the internet again. I have to learn to share my time with all sorts of things in my life. I particularly don't want to forget about my art studio now that I have the internet again.

On another note. During our internet famine I was often in my art studio creating something...my husband had no idea what to do with himself while I was in my studio. Poor thing...he usually sits on his computer doing something or other on the internet, or he spends time with me. Now that I have my studio....he didn't know what to do. I like my own time and to do my own thing. Even though we are married...I still like doing my own thing and having my own interests which I pursue. I try to encourage my husband to do the same.

In the end I realised how much I had come to rely on the internet for entertainment, ideas and resources. I had lost perspective of my creativity somewhere in the big wide web and now thanks to our router breaking I have regained some sense of creativity and am back on my journey to becoming a creatively in-tune artist, rather than an entertainment hungry consumer.