an anti-resolution

When thinking about my resolutions, I briefly considered and then promptly forgot a resolution to spend less time on the Internet. Not intending to shirk any of my duties or loves, of course, such as emailing, blogs, Lexulous, and Facebook. Just less time… “surfing?” The mindless quest for whatever. Something I’m shopping for or some idea I’m researching. Sometimes the quest, because it takes so "long,” feels a bit mindless. Wasteful. But, on the other hand, it feels sort of natural. Since the Internet really came to be in my world (1998 or so? is it the same for everyone else?), I’ve been a surfer, a peruser, a quester. Is this a bad thing? When I look at the habit as objectively as I possibly can, I wish that I could be more efficient in my dealings with the Internet: have idea/objective/goal, hop online, complete mission, log off. Walk away. But I can’t. I think about all the other supposedly productive things I could or should be doing instead, and then get irritated at my Internet-ing, labeling it a giant time-suck and/or useless void. But then again, I wonder. I’m a very introspective person… and in all this “mindless” activity, I feel like the value might actually be in its mindlessness. It’s mental downtime, my Searching for Whatever. And so while there’s always room to trim up, to make one’s daily activities more efficient, and generally to spend less time on the Intra-Web, I think ultimately I’m just not going to worry about it. Just let it be, and in that way, let me be.