I wanted to take a moment to get personal.
For the past year, I've felt consumed by the world of digital media. It is one of the glories of our age that so much literature is available to us at a simple click. A book that we hear about in a YouTube or TikTok video minutes ago could be at our doorstep in as little as a day. With a quick search on your phone, you can find the nearest bookstore in any radius. There has never been an easier time in history to become a prolific reader. And yet, it's never been harder either.
To say we live in a distracting world would be an understatement. Ironically, the very technology that brings more literature closer to our disposal than ever before is also what keeps many of us from deep reading.
Reading from the Kindle app can be interrupted by a social media notification or text message. While reading a physical book, your mind may begin to wander and soon you find yourself reaching for the nearest device.
The fact that these devices and applications are designed to hook us and steal our attention is taken for granted in today's world. As a result, some people have gone to even greater lengths to buy tech without those distractions.
They buy phones without access to app stores. Some writers, like me, even buy devices like the Freewrite to draft articles and stories without the temptation of opening up a browser tab on the side while we work. There's even been multiple stories about people returning to the use of manual typewriters!1
In today's media environment, phenomena abound that exist to distract, enrage, coerce, or sometimes mislead you—maybe all at once. Existing in our current era can be anxiety-inducing. I am not immune to this and I imagine you aren't either.
So take more moments to leave your phone and devices in another room. Take out your headphones when you're walking out in the street.
Learn to embrace the silence that may surround you because if there's one thing our constantly online world makes us most uncomfortable with, it is silence.
Consider making spaces in your life for silence. While reading with a physical book is the way I'd prefer to spend my time, do anything that gets you away from screens, social media, the news, etc., at least for a little while. Go for a walk. Meet up with friends in person. Anything to get away from the things that rile you up, even for a couple of minutes at a time.
It's okay to disconnect. It's okay to unplug. The Internet will still be there when you get back. Take a moment to refresh and then you can come back.
Who knows, you might find the time off to be kinda nice. And when you see the things on your feed that remind you why you left? Well, let's just remember that there will always be another new book you can read to get your mind off things.
Take care of yourselves and happy reading!
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Of which I’d love to take part in someday.