During our recent family vacation we spent three hours in an outrigger canoe on Big River (and you can do the same). It was the morning after Thanksgiving. The river was glassy-smooth and a deep sense of calm descended on all three of us, to the point that even our boisterous boy piped down, listening to the gentle splash of oars in the water and the occasional birdsong.
Canoeing in a river will reduce distractions and slow down cognition to the point that one notices small things: a bid perched on an old tree, harbor seals sunning themselves on the river bank, slippery river otters slinking into the water, grebes diving for fish. I want to notice such things in my surroundings.
Back at the inn, I read Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media. I found them even more persuasive in 2024, when the online cacophony is crowding my brain and impairing my ability to think freely. It feels like all these corporations try to do is upset me or try to sell me something, or a combination of both, which dovetails nicely with Cory Doctorow’s excellent analysis of the enshittification of online platforms. I’m persuaded. Today I’m disengaging from all social media for the time being, and we’ll see how that impacts my quality of life, mental acuity, emotional availability, and priorities.
The plan is to replace this fake socialization with true socializing, one on one, with people I know and enjoy; invest effort in my neighborhood and local community; and spend some of it on solo pursuits like my fitness, music, and reading. And, of course, on my family, who deserve me at my best. I will continue to blog, and I wonder how being removed from the turmoil of social media will impact where my interests go or how this platform evolves.
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