Permission to Unplug

Happy #NationalDayOfUnplugging

When was the last time, even if it is just for an hour, where you took a break from screens?

Making space for nothing seems like a meaningless task, a waste of time.

Indeed, in our world where constant busyness and stimulation are norms rather than exceptions. We've become accustomed to the hectic nature of the world.

Here’s your permission slip to do nothing for an hour - every day!

Whatever that nothing looks like. Maybe it’s swinging a golf club, cooking oatmeal, washing dishes. Not for a purpose of getting better, or getting it done. Just for the delight of being you.

Living at the base of an extinct volcano is a gift. Each morning, I give myself space to race the sunrise up the hill. (Usually accompanied by a bear-like animal, Fezzig.) If nothing else, it forces me to breath a bit more intentionally as I huff and puff up the 282 stairs.

What I’ve been doing lately? Letting said bear walk off leash! This requires significant focus and attention, so I leave my AirPods in my pocket. No Audible, no Spotify, no nothing. Strangely, the meditative nature of my walks has shifted. They feel calmer, more relaxed, more refreshing.

I got you. My to-do list multiplies overnight (like rabbits ??). Most mornings there is some arm wrestling between my rain gear and my inbox. Both demanding attention.

Do. Do. Do. My lists taunt at me.

And, giving myself an intentional hour (every day!) without a screen or engineered noise does something: Making space for nothing allows for creativity to arrive.

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Here’s a list of helpful meditation and focus resources from up a presentation I offer, Surviving the Overwired World. (Public service announcement: There are screens and sound involved.)