I have to give my parents credit for blasting through their 50s with such energy and conviction. (Or perhaps they were very good at hiding it.) So far, I haven’t felt as successful.
At the end of March, we rented a well-appointed Airbnb cabin in a forest in the mountains. It was 3 days of very limited device use (a couple times to check the weather and once to deal with a pet sitting minor emergency… a bit more time to take photos on a few walks, to document our accommodation, to record my spinning progress).
During one of our outings to explore the property, we waded through ruminant pruned shrubs and I was admiring the Kinnikinnick while wondering if a bear or moose would crash through the trees when I stumbled across an antler:
When I got back from our mini-staycation, (of course) I posted the photo to the ‘Gram and let people know that I was going to continue my new device free lifestyle for the foreseeable near future. This lasted less than 10 days.
I’ve been thinking about this unexpectedly peaceful antler encounter and the juxtaposition with my return to the consumption-driven digital world so quickly.
I feel this is no longer an exceptional experience. I know very few people who can navigate this world without digital accommodation. And yet, I wonder if it is contributing to my overall feeling of unwellness as I age.
Answers to questions sometimes appear when we let the problem sit for a bit. So, I’m still quietly creating: to combat the increasing chaotic activity of work and the news cycle; to make room for slower thinking; to exercise the chance to ruminate on creative possibilities and attend to something that doesn’t (as far as I know) care what I think about it.
quietly creating 