Category: field notes

It’s been a solid five weeks since I logged off social media, and it’s been a good five weeks. It took two weeks before I really felt not just off but off off, and since then I’ve been enjoying the more insular than usual mode. I found I had approached, if not achieved, a kind of observational homeostasis, where I was still noting — and notating — things, even when not sharing them publicly. I always say my social media accounts are, collectively, my public scratch pad, which is distinct from my personal scratch pad. I do look forward to getting back online solidly by the first full week of January, in part because I miss some of the interaction, but also because it’ll be interesting to see how my off time has informed my next phase of on time. I do subscribe to the idea that being primarily offline, and seeing online activity as a break, is a potentially healthier and more productive approach than the obverse.