For years, I have imagined a future I seemingly cannot attain. One where I no longer have a need for a smartphone and don’t share my life on the internet. Perhaps I retire to a cabin in the woods. You know, that type of thing an old person raging against modern times would do. Granted, I am not old, and I have accepted the smartphone need, but what exactly would happen if I did quit the rest of it?
The straw that broke the camel's back, or broke my relationship with Facebook, was a podcast on ghosting. I am pretty sure everyone knows what it is by now, but in essence it is the idea that you don’t want to deal with issues so you just ignore them, and by them, I mean people. I didn’t like the idea that I was cross posting to Facebook, as if I were there, but never replying to any posts.
To be honest, I never wanted to talk about the metaverse. An idea that has been floating around since at least the 70s that we are all going to live in VR one day. Populating a world that replicates our old one but allows us to do it somehow better. This idea only being pushed into the forefront again because Facebook wanted to take some light off its rubbish pile of a service.
Have you ever heard the expression that the universe is a mirror? The idea that whatever you put out into it, gets reflected straight back at you. It seems a little absurd on the face of it. A theory akin to The Secret, that you can manifest whatever you want just from your frame of mind. Yet, I think there’s something in this, you know.
Ever been in a room with someone who’s in a bad mood?
James Tocchio on his view that the camera matters:
I’ve been missing that. All of that. And it’s really hit me this week that I’ve spent the past couple of years thinking that the camera didn’t matter anymore. But I think, maybe, that it matters more than ever.If I am honest, I’ve not yet worked out what all the words are, they seem jumbled and don’t really get to the point.
There have been a few points in my life that have felt like it was ending. The specifics of these no longer matter to me, a long time ago fading into insignificance. Yet at the time, they felt like major issues that appeared insurmountable.
Of course, everything can be overcome. The feelings of major issues fade in time. Life moves forward, and the events depicted in the stories told about it evolve.
Colin Devroe on Quitting Social Media:
Not that I can’t focus. I can sit down and get into flow on a programming project more often than not. But when I’m still, when I’m idle, when I feel like I could be bored at any moment I grab my phone and scroll through Twitter which sends my mind into overdrive on a million topics, timelines, thoughts, and emotions.
I don’t think this is good for the human brain.
After some inspiration from Maique I thought I would take stock of things going out of my account. I am a sucker for trying out new apps and services, often forgetting to cancel them before the free trial expires. So, I got out my bank statements and checked my subscriptions page and made some adjustments.
Must HavesApple One - We as a familly get a ton of value out of one subscription for £29.
Taking inspiration from a few other bloggers posts that I have read, I thought I would post my intentions for the upcoming year. That way everything is out in the open and there is at least a little accountability in the universe. The new year is usually when I start something new, leading to it dieing around April time. This year is different.
Nothing new is planned for this year. That’s not to say that opportunities and ideas won’t arise, but I intend to double down on what I am currently doing.