“Be proud of your creations instead of your possessions.”
—The Minimalists
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The Necessity of Time Unplugged
Learn to unplug from the online world so you can reconnect with the world right here, right now
By Carl Phillips
I love to travel. For my wife and I, travel is very much something we prioritize in our lives. We plan for it. She has long been a committed traveler and has awoken the wandering spirit within me.
Big trips and small, new places, different cultures, and getting further underneath places we’ve already been. Tasting the food, finding interesting places to visit, or just sitting with a glass of wine or cup of coffee, and soaking up the atmosphere. Experiencing where we are for what it is. It’s one of life’s great pleasures.
When traveling, we both like to spend large chunks of time unplugged from the online world. Sometimes, we enforce these breaks intentionally at home as well.
This time spent away is always refreshing. I feel no guilt about not checking into social media on a daily basis or scanning favorite blogs for updates. There are fewer distractions in my day so I can concentrate on what, and who, is in front of me instead.
Interestingly, when I come back online, I also never seem to have missed much.
These pockets of intentional time, disconnected from the digital world always feel like something of a mini reset. My thoughts seem clearer—my mind sharper and less cluttered.
Does this mean I want to run off into the woods and live, gadget free, with no sign of Wi-Fi? No, not entirely, although at times that can also seem pretty appealing. I do however, recognize that if I am going to make time to be connected, I also need to make space to be disconnected. Yin needs yang.
Strange Times, Stranger Behavior
We live in strange times. We can be contacted 24/7. Smartphones never leave our side; in addition we have tablets, laptops, TVs—the screens in our lives are multiplying. More and more of our time is spent plugged in. Literally. While the convenience of being able to hop online to shop, research, or to connect with others cannot be denied, all this time online can also be a curse.
We can become addicted to just checking in. But as we check into one world (the digital) we often check out of where we are physically. We lunch with a friend but obsessively check our phones for Instagram updates of a celebrity we’ll never meet. We take snaps of food or coffee served to us, so we can check in and share (read brag) online about how much we’re living the life, without really stopping to truly taste and enjoy the moment for all it’s worth. We walk to work with our heads buried in a screen, clock in to spend our day with our heads buried in a screen, then come home to bury our heads in… you guessed it, a screen!
Is more and more screen time ever really going to be the ultimate measure of a life well lived?
We need to look up occasionally. We need to prioritize living our lives over watching our screens obsessively. We need to harness the wonderful powers of technology at or fingertips without letting it run riot. We need to realize that we control how we interact with technology, not the other way around.
Spend a little time unplugged from the online world so you can reconnect with the world right here, right now.
The Benefits of Solitude
Meet Solitude—a close associate of mine who never lets me down
By Filip Vuckovic
In our world of immediate messaging, notifications, and digital interaction, it can be hard to practice solitude. Nowadays, this can be considered a luxury. The first thing that solitude can address is your comprehension of thoughts—solitude makes it possible to realize new ideas throughout the practice of meditation and reflection. It can help to increase concentration and boost productivity, and it may be a potent tool. On the opposite end of the spectrum, solitude can provide a warning when it comes to complex issues. Furthermore, it offers mind stability, a constancy that’s not to be measured regarding time.
In solitude, you are part of a community of individuals that are consciously alone with the potential aim of enlightenment and self-growth. Employing reflection to find silence on earth strengthens our capacity to accept ourselves as we are and not seek acceptance of others. Reflect for a moment on the rewarding sensation you receive when you accomplish something on your own—there’s a positive impact on your self-efficacy and self-esteem.
Spending time in solitude is an essential need for my mental health and is a vital investment. Consider giving yourself an opportunity to be alone and reap the benefits of being unaccompanied for a while. Recognize that spending your time alone is the go-juice that many individuals require—in the same way others desire a coffee with an additional shot of espresso, solitude could be the essential practice to provide energy. If you continually distract yourself by spending excessive time with draining people, you might never truly inspect yourself sufficiently to know who your authentic self is.
When it comes to creative work, your working environment is critical. Inner work may help you enter a vast space of solitude where you’re able to truly feel a deeper connection with yourself. Working with the ability of the active imagination may be a transformative experience. Getting in touch with painful, repressed feelings is a rather intense procedure and ought to be attempted with an open mind. There’s a great chance that either you will locate clarity in telling the story or the stranger provides you an angle you wouldn’t have come upon yourself.
In solitude, you will recognize the life balance that you have been desiring. If you’re able to grow comfortably in your solitude, you will discover that individuals may automatically be drawn to you. All the essential things in life are within us. You will realize that the world isn’t on your shoulders after all.
A Little More of Less
A few other articles we think you might enjoy…
The Art and Obligation of Minimalist Travel by Joe Schneider
7 Reasons I Wear The Same Thing Every Day by Joshua Becker
Living Life Looking Forward by Cheryl Smith
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