Solitude?

[CoolRich59]

I have been reading Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism" and he discusses (at length) how solitude is a very necessary thing in our lives. There are quite a few references to Henry David Thoreau and his time at Walden Pond in the book.

Going to stop reading right here.

I read his previous book "Deep Work" and loved it. I just picked up a copy of "Digital Minimalism" but haven't started it yet. I am going to bookmark this thread and come back to it once I make some progress on the book.

 

[DayDreaming]

Pretty much whenever I'm outdoors, I prefer to be disconnected from phones and internet. Hiking, bicycling, working in the woods... I'll have my phone with me for emergencies, and maybe for GPS, but it's in airplane mode so I don't get incoming calls or notifications about email. I love being disconnected for a while.

 

[Foodie]

I think that Thoreau was way ahead of his time. Before TV and before Instagram he wrote in Walden:


"By closing the eyes and slumbering, and consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundations"


This was inspiration for me to get away from the big social media platforms (Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and detox for a while. I do not miss it. I have been alone with my thoughts part of the day, but not lonely at all.

 

[Dtail]

Never been on the big media social platforms and don't intend to do so.
Gardening and being on retirement sites is my solitude.

 

[Amethyst]

It probably looks like I spend half my time on this site, but it's actuallly only a few minutes a day...I read and write fast.