#72 - The Absence Theorem

Published 5 November 2017

This post will be short and sweet.

It is time for me to take the sabbatical I have been procrastinating about for the past couple of years.

As you probably know by now, I have an ongoing struggle with social media and how I use it. Many times in the past, I have said I would take a break. Mostly, I wanted to find some space for other things that matter to me.

As I approach my 49th birthday this weekend, I have decided to spend more time writing in notebooks, using pen and pencil. I will still use email when necessary, but for the rest of my correspondence, I want to return to more analogue ways of staying in touch.

As always, I have a few commitments that require me to dip in and out of social media. They will be the only exceptions.

I will no longer rely on digital calendars for scheduling events. Instead, I will buy myself a small leather-bound day-to-page diary and use that.

I have already removed all social media apps from my smartphone. From now on, I will use it for calls, text messages, and little else.

I am not sure how long this absence from the digital world will last. I am not going to put a date on a full return. Instead, I will write small updates here, on this blog, as and when the mood takes me.

So, happy fucking birthday to me.

I do not know what the future holds, and I am trying not to look too far down the road. There is a lot to focus on right now, and wasting endless hours on social media and the wider internet has to stop.

Have a great Christmas.

I will write something to be posted either on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

Until then,

adieu.