Artist Without Internet

For four days I was an artist without internet. My first reaction was panic. But then I settled into the groove of a life with little contact with the outside world.

Artist Without Internet

Suddenly a ‘deafening silence’ from the computer

Mid Saturday afternoon, Barnet Boy and I suddenly realised we had no internet. We had experienced a storm earlier in the day and seemed to have no problems but suddenly there was nothing. The modem was switched on and off, we fiddled with the wires (as you do) and there was nothing. We reported the fault but it was an automated system. That is discouraging at the best of times but particularly in Italy where things close down for the weekend. Then I got a text confirming the engineer was on the case. So we waited.

And waited, and waited. The joy was the text I had received said we could check the progress with the repair on-line. Hello? No internet? I have a smartphone but with limited data allowance (because I don’t, or should I say didn’t, need it).

An immediate impact on marketing plans

I don’t know about other artists, but I have developed a comfortable pattern with my marketing. This includes the Sunday of the first weekend of a month being devoted to setting up the month’s marketing objectives, scheduling posts etc. Of course all of that was due to happen the day after we lost internet. So my immediate thought was no posts of mine will appear anywhere on social media while the internet is gone.

I wasn’t unduly worried, after all this was Saturday afternoon. We were bound to be back on-line for my Monday evening blog. But Monday came and went and so did Tuesday. We finally got back on-line Wednesday afternoon.

Other impact

I pay bills on-line and there was a bill that needed paying which meant a trip to the post office if the internet didn’t return by the end of the week. I use an on-line calendar, shared between my devices, so I found I had no way of knowing if I had an appointment as it couldn’t be accessed. My Mum in the UK needed grocery shopping (I do that for her over the internet) but luckily that was not urgent and could wait until the internet came back. Barnet Boy got a telephone call asking him to create a new website. Great to get the work but it all had to wait. We also couldn’t indulge in our daily evening ritual of a Guardian crossword on-line.

I had spent Saturday morning creating a new video of my images of Citta della Pieve and then couldn’t upload it to YouTube. I did upload it as soon as I had internet access.

I had time to sit and create some new pieces but couldn’t do anything with them as they were finished. It is funny how you get into the habit of creating then marketing the piece immediately (or at least I do). It all felt incomplete and rather frustrating.

Why didn’t I use an Internet Cafe?

The main reason for not using an Internet Cafe is that we don’t live near one. We live in rural Italy, half way up a mountain. It is a trek out to anywhere. I also have years of data security training from my work as a consultant that means I am hesitant to use unknown internet connections. We did give in on Tuesday afternoon and go to a cafe in Castiglione del Lago so that we could check our emails and just let the world know we were still here.

But the truth is, actually after the first day of no internet I began to quite like it.

Cut off from the world?

It did feel a bit like we were cut off from the world. We have no television and radio (through choice). Without the internet we had no way of knowing if we were about to be evaporated by nuclear explosions.  Or if everyone had woken up, Dallas style, and the whole Brexit thing was just a bad dream. It became a bit like a retreat. I have undertaken several Buddhist retreats, including silent ones, and they are quite liberating as there are no external distractions.

What Did We Do With The Time?

The days were long – very long in fact. We got so much done! The kitchen was cleaned to within an inch of its life, we began moving around three rooms and re-organizing parts of the house. Meals were more leisurely as we didn’t need to rush to get back to emails or participate in forums (BB moderates a webmasters forum). We always talk a lot (not having a television helps) but we talked even more and laughed a lot.

What did I learn?

What I learnt from not having the internet for four days:

1. Even when you are super-organised things come along to trip you up.
2. As well as an on-line calendar you need a paper back up – I went straight out and bought a small diary as back up!
3. “Silence really is golden” #quote Dorothy Berry-Lound
4. I enjoy doing things around the house and need to make more time for that (not just cleaning).
5. “There is life beyond internet” #quote Barnet Boy.

We were so happy when we got the internet back though! Could you hear the celebrations?

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!