(Will Swann/Unsplash)
There are so many things I could write about this week, starting with the fact that our most recent president seems to be preparing a social network with contradictory rules that appears to have all the makings of a pump-and-dump scheme and also appears to be a reskin of Mastodon, a platform whose licensing compels source code distribution.
And then there is the MacBook Pro, which I have finally seen and appears to be worthy of our time.
But I’d like to take a moment and consider my attempts to stay offline over the past few days. I was not perfect at it, though the relative lack of signal helped. (I’ve done this before, and honestly, the network is getting better, with fewer moments of downtime than in the past.)
https://twitter.com/ShortFormErnie/status/1450837708612513800
Now, to be clear, I am not a die-hard stay-off-the-grid kind of person, and in many cases, I think it’s important to understand that our world simply works because of the fact that we’re connected.
But I did try hard not to look at my phone, and I did leave my laptops closed for a few days, and it was probably for the best.
Instead, I went hiking. I did lots and lots (and lots) of hiking, and boy, are my dogs all the sorer for it. I am not a hiker by nature; I get nervous about inclines and declines and I am not well-trained in it. I had to tape up my toes at one point.
I’m back in civilization again, close to my normal routine, but definitely feeling the workout I got this week.
Now, I will fully admit: I’m very much a city mouse, and very much content to spend weekends staring at my computer, trying to solve a big issue standing in my way. But I do think that in some ways I’ve conquered many of the issues I’ve run into in my life that way. And the only way to grow it to embrace some of the challenges as literal and metaphorical hills to climb.
(Jeremiah Lawrence/Unsplash)
To me, the digital realm seems to make a lot more sense than the real world at times, and as a result I find myself at a comfort level with a keyboard and a screen that I might never find if I have to solve a problem with a poorly printed map (and some of the trails we used very much had those). A quickly dashed-off tweet or missive can feel far easier to manage than a thought I have to tell someone in person or over the phone.
Like everyone else, I am still figuring this out, but I simply hope that challenging myself allows me room to grow. If you find yourself struggling to make sense of the world beyond your keyboard, allow yourself some time away occasionally.
Time limit given ⏲: 30 minutes
Time left on clock ⏲: 28 seconds
