3 Days of Silence

I can't believe it's only been two days since this story broke. I think Edward Snowden has raised a lot of questions and worries, and for a lot of people confirmed a lot of theories and fears. I'm really not politically savvy enough to drill down into all the ramifications of the NSA leaks, so I won't even try. You can definitely find out plenty without me. But what has that got to do with 3 Days of Silence?

So yesterday I saw Crunchy Betty post about this on Facebook, and the idea of going on a digital detox for a few days was appealing, but fleeting. And then she blogged about it today and the idea really took hold. Not just as an impromptu protest against all this surveillance and 1984 paranoia, but as a break from the constant influx of internets in my life. The first thing I do every morning is check my emails on my phone. I catch up on Twitter and Facebook while I'm drying my hair. I read the news or ebooks on my phone on the bus to work. At work I'm constantly online, answering emails, researching, and doing things I'm not really supposed to be doing from a work computer. At home in the evenings I'm chatting on Facebook, browsing the Etsy forums, gaming, and generally immersing myself in the web.

That's, you know, a lot of time at a computer. And I started thinking of all the things I keep saying I have no time for, that I definitely would have time for if I had a couple of days computer-free. And all the things I used to do before I had internet access and how I filled my days before Twitter and Cracked.com. And I think now especially, when I'm feeling low and struggling with my sense of self, disconnecting from the digital world and spending some time outside of cyberspace might be really nice and useful.

So I'm going to do a "lite" version of this, since June 24th is a work day for me and I don't think my boss would be too pleased if I just ignored all digital communication for a day. But June 22nd and 23rd are my Silent Days. No phone except for emergencies, no internet, no TV. I'm going to read and make perfumes and scribble in notebooks. I'm going to see what I can make out of dried hyssop and green tea leaves. I'm going to dig out my rune stones and Tarot cards and re-learn some things. And if  it comes down to it, I'm going to poke my cat for entertainment.

He's usually pretty good value for money.