Life is not rocket science, it really doesn’t take a genius. By a rough estimation based solely on my own lived experience, and precise feminine intuition, you can solve about 72 to 82 per cent of your current life problems by going offline: Just Walk Away From The Screen. Close Your Eyes. No social media, no waking up to the news, no scrolling to sleep; Life is truly amazing unplugged. This might be the best kept secret of our times. You really don’t need any of the digital noise— None!— to live a perfectly balanced, enjoyable, exciting life.
(more…)Category: Leisure
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Let’s get physical!
And the thing about time spent offline is that you know what to do, you just don’t do it, or you don’t do it enough, or you do it for a bit but then you inevitably find yourself back in the rabbit hole of bottomless Instagram reels and clever Reddit posts while the book sits unread. And you wonder to yourself, What the fuck is wrong with me?
Nothing.
Some things are easier than others; social media is easy, real life is hard.
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Unplugged evenings
Recently before bed, I grabbed my laptop to watch something until I could fall asleep and in the midst of the British version of The Office playing (the only version available on Kanopy) it dawned on me that I would rather be in the dark, quiet of the night with my thoughts and dreaming of the morning to come to play with words than the noise from the internet keeping me company. It shocked and delighted me, that I now prefer my thoughts over the noise, the quiet of the dark night over the blinding lights of the computer; the rhythms of the night peering through my bedroom window to keep me company, the wind whispering, Good day, lady, time to rest now.
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Mornings spent offline
Some evenings, filled with terror from witnessing another day— time— passing me by nonchalantly, and unwilling to escape my emotional discomfort with Netfixes and digital pacifiers, I turn to my morning journals. Each page is carefully handwritten and stamped, and I begrudgingly flip through the pages until I stumble upon a date, a word, a sentence that catches my attention. I read. I don’t recognize the woman from these morning pages: Curious, open, understanding, accepting—Excited for the living to come, to unfold, with her childlike glee. What does she know, I wonder, what does she know in those quiet, calm, peaceful mornings spent offline that I seem to forget as the day unfolds?
In the beginning, there is silence— If you let it be so.
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How to live without social media
“So, no Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Snapchat, no Tik Tok…” I know he believes me when I say I’m not on social media; it’s just that he wants to make sure I didn’t forget to mention the Instagram account I kept for art inspo or the Facebook one I keep to stay in touch with family back home. “Nope, nothing” I say, “I have email?” I offer. We move on to more interesting topics. By now my default has become no Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Snapchat, no Tik Tok… Not even WhatsApp—This one makes life the most inconvenient but as a woman of principles, I had to leave when Facebook acquired the platform sometime ago.
Life adjusts accordingly.
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Scroll-free evenings
Evening starts when you are done all your tasks, chores, duties for the day, and there is the time that remains, that lull between dinner and sleep; too tired for anything productive, too wired for sleep, and so you fill it with the internet— Scroll, scroll, scroll. Because you are scrolling, because of the blue light, rage, and information overload, you are even more wired, sleep alludes you, and you scroll more. It’s a never-ending cycle, night after night, day after day. You know what to do, why don’t you do it? There is no good reason to be on the internet in the evenings anyway; the emails, texts, tweets, reposts, notifications all can wait until the next morning. It is this mind shift that has been helping me keep my laptop, phone, and the internet away from me in the evening: Tomorrow, it will all be there.
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Better things to do
Last week, with the power out and the only light from my smartphone illuminating my tiny bathroom, I turn on the shower praying the water is still hot, lukewarm at least. Cold water sputters; I whimper. The stories from The Nightingale come to mind as if to mock me. Do you know what happens in war? The ugly rumours, the List, the roundups, the ration cards, and the too long lines waiting for so little food— and mothers who don’t eat so their children don’t starve and they still have to bury them anyway because bullets don’t discriminate— and definitely no hot water. I step into the shower. On my commute, I get lost in The Nightingale again, fighting back tears, unable to fathom the terror the human spirit can endure. Here I am, barely able to endure the agony of reading the words on paper, while tucked safely on a seat on the Subway, my biggest threat a drugged out man screaming obscenities at no one in particular, and from a safe distance, oh, and a cold shower— The power was back by the time I left for work. And I know it ends: World War II. Another story for the history books; another story told of human suffering in a long list of human sufferings: Say You’re One of Them, Things Fall Apart, Homegoing, Caging Skies, Man’s Search for Meaning, A Long Way Gone. I read, and read, and read. And when I exhaust myself and he says, “sure babe, I’m listening,” I read to him too— My Parent’s Bedroom: Choking back tears, voice breaking, holding back a scream. He’s mostly watching the road but he glances at me: What kind of benevolent God would allow such a thing?
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If social media didn’t exist
As someone who has spent the better part of the past six years without social media, I can make bold claims like most of us would be better off if social media didn’t exist: Socially, psychologically, physiologically— Most of us know this to be true instinctively. I wonder then, how come we choose social media over our social, mental, physical wellbeing? Would it have been so bad if we all collectively avoided social media, ignored Facebook and never bothered to make a Twitter account, and let it all die off in its infancy back in 2008? Yet, here we are and social media is a necessary evil; Something unpleasant that must be accepted in order to achieve a particular result. But at what cost? And what if social media was not a necessary evil, not even necessary at all? What if it didn’t exist entirely?
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10 rules for play
Rule 1: Define play
Play is the work of children. It consists of those activities performed for self-amusement. It is child-directed, and the rewards come from within the individual child; it is enjoyable and spontaneous.
- How do you define play for yourself?
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100 ways to spend more time offline: Not your average list
I made this list for anyone who is also bored of the average things to do offline lists cluttering Google. I know who writes those things, just between you and I, *whispers* ChatGPT *shudders.* It has to be AI generated to be so boring, robotic, uninspiring, repetitive. I, too, got bored of such advice and went looking for my own answers. This list is 100% algorithm-free and made with deep appreciation for time spent offline, from my many years of relentless pursuit to find the pleasures of the offline world. Take what you need, leave the rest. ❤
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time spent offline 