It takes getting used to

Lesson from a day spent offline

getting used to

Hi there,

As is with most things in life, spending time offline just takes getting used to.

Five things to share:

1. I sometimes forget about getting used to and I get impatient; bored, restless. I run back to my Netfix for some much needed distraction, to pass the time, numb the mind. Then I’m at the library, picking up and putting down books until I find it: I PLANNED MY DEATH CAREFULLY; unlike my life, which meandered along from one thing to another, despite my feeble attempts to control it. I cannot fathom why I choose the internet— with its boring, sterile, bland sameness; loathing every moment I spend in its trenches— when I can get lost in the story of Joan Foster, a woman with numerous identities and a talent for shedding them at will. I cannot think of a good reason except that it takes getting used to; picking up a book, instead of opening another tab; leaving the house for a walk, instead of scrolling through the apps; paying attention to the real world instead of getting lost in the digital noise. And that is the good news: It’s not easy, but it just takes getting used to.

2. Although it is tedious and hard to fathom reading another page of it at times, Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains is a great read if you are looking for more reasons to hate the internet. You can also watch Carr talk about what the internet is doing to our brains in this video.

3. A quote I want to share with you:

   We take other men’s knowledge and opinions upon trust; which is an idle and superficial learning. We must make them our own. We are just like a man who, needing fire, went to a neighbor’s house to fetch it, and finding a very good one there, sat down to warm himself without remembering to carry any back home. What good does it do us to have our belly full of meat if it is not digested, if it is not transformed into us, if it does not nourish and support us?

   —Michel de Montaigne

4. Which I found in Evaluating Information: Find the Signal in the Noise from Brain Food. A large part of wisdom is knowing what to ignore. A large part of expertise is knowing where to place your attention.

5. A question for you: What are you willing to get used to?

That’s all for this week!

Thank you for reading, and please share with anyone you think may benefit.

time spent offline is now a monthly analog publication you can get delivered straight to your mailbox with 20 ideas every month.

Until next time,

Mehret