Another year (mostly) spent offline
Another year (mostly) spent offline
-ish
Hi there,
2022 beat my ass. I hope you had a better year.
Five things to share:
time spent offline adds up. It’s easy to obsess over tiny details, try to force yourself to put down the phone, guilt yourself into reading instead of going on instagram again, and these things are good starting points: You can learn a lot from hating yourself. But I know better now. I prefer to be an amateur instead, a lover of time spent offline. I put on music and pull out my Sudoku book because that’s what I want to spend my evening doing. And when I still feel “empty, emptying,” I get lost in /r/askTO. It gets boring quick anyway because reality, if you are courageous enough to confront it, is more indulging than the endless noise online.
La la da da da da, la da da
La da da da, la da da da, la da da daA quote I want to share with you:
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
time spent offline got a lil shout out in the Guardian: ‘I didn’t realise how badly it affected me until I was off it’: what it’s like to have a social media detox
Hello to everyone that made it to this tiny corner of the internet from that article! I hope you enjoy your stay. <3
A question for you: How did you spend your 2022 offline?
P.s. Also:
That’s all for this week!
Thank you for reading, and share with anyone you think may benefit.
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Until next time,
Mehret
I have already thanked you multiple times this year Mehret but again, I am so grateful for your words of wisdom and love hearing some of the inner workings of your mind!
One of my first comments on your posts was about my worry about managing a real life-internet balance as someone who works online. Although I wanted to, I couldn't engage with my passion so my internet time ended up wasted - even when I sat down 'ready to work'.
At the start of November I figured out what my next project would be, and I have a strong goal behind it. Something I've been missing for a few years. Not only am I enjoying my time offline more, but when I'm working on my laptop I'm in a passionate state of flow.
I've done hundreds of hours more insightful work the past 6 weeks than the 4 months prior, but the main thing is that I'm enjoying life more now I have a more comprehensive idea of my goals and priorities.
One thing you said that stood out was about treating yourself kindly. I've come closer to my goals even with some 4-5 day workweeks where the rest of the days I've just been like 'I can't do this', accepted it, and let myself be. Much better when I was trying to force 7 day workweeks where I did nothing that added value to my life, got distracted by social media, and watched too much YouTube.
I'm sorry to hear 2022 was tough. The fact you've made a difference to other people's lives show how special you are!
Merry Christmas if you celebrate :)