I have been reading about the idea of a tech shabbat for a while now - a whole day, once a week, where you shun the screens, and ditch the digital. I’m going to give it a whirl.
I’m not a phone-obsessed person. In fact, I frequently misplace my phone somewhere about the house, and need to find another piece of tech (an iPad usually) to ping it. I have found it in some very odd places, including one time wedged between an ottoman and the foot of the bed. Even while it was dinging at me, yelling for rescue, seemingly right in front of me, I could. not. find. it.
But I realize that even I still use my phone a lot. I read news on it, check social media on it, read email, take pictures with it. And I watch TV, or look up recipes, or read a book on my iPad sometimes. So much screen time - even for this GenXer.
So, I am planning a trip back to the 80s! (Ok, but not the clothes, because….no).
My goal is to have a mostly screen-free day today, and then over the next few weeks, increase the screen-free time to a full 24 hours and see what happens for a few weeks.
It will take some training - not just for me, but for others who might want to reach me. We have a land line. (I’ve never used it). And actual books. (I use them all the time). I have a camera (which I would like to use more). We even have a record player and a lot of records. The bluetooth speaker is amazing, but listening to actual albums on an actual record player is a different kind of engagement with the music (and the story arc of an album). And that’s kind of the point right - a different level of engagement.
I plan to use the day to do more of the things that take time.
A few years ago, I learned how to make bread. I love baking bread. Haven’t made any in ages.
I want to cook other delicious things too, using recipes from actual, beautifully-illustrated cookbooks that real chefs have written and curated (with no affiliate marketing or pinning on a Pinterest board).
I want to get back to sketching, and wood-carving. I am not very good at either, but getting better takes….time and focus. Two things our phones tend to take from us.
And of course, I want to get out in the garden and tend to my weeds flowers and tomatoes, and very probably move the blueberries, since they are not getting enough sun.
I might even write a letter. Like, with a pen. On some paper. Who doesn’t love getting a real letter?!
I am relishing the idea of all that. But more than the things I will do, I suspect it will change the way I think, and how I do those things. I’m interested to see how this little life experiment will work! I’ll let you know!
What would you relish the time to do, if you allowed yourself a tech-free cocoon from time to time? I even give you permission to skip this daily feed once a week. I mean, as long as you catch up tomorrow….
Comments open to all members - free and paid - all the time, for a while. (Um…but please note, I won’t respond until tomorrow).
Loved this. My property line is part of an eruv so I think about shabbat often and unplug for a good part of day but I do love to cook when I unplug. P.S. Cooking from a cookbook is so much more of an experience (I like to read my cookbooks like a novel), only to be surpassed by the handwritten recipe on an index card--that's old school! Hope you had a good weekend!