25 Comments

I’ve been wanting to try this and have started to make feeble attempts (as evidenced by me, reading this post and commenting, on a Saturday). But perhaps this post will be just the kick in the butt I needed.

I started lighting Shabbat candles with my family recently and I like that as a trigger to put the phone away. Something about watching the flames slowly melt away the wax as we wind down for bed feels especially apt as a transition from digital to physical.

I’m going to give it a real shot. Thanks for this nudge.

Expand full comment
May 21, 2023Liked by Alex Olshonsky

There’s a certain freedom that exists within the framework of Jewish law that allows an even deeper connection to self and the oneness of G-d on the sabbath. At first when I started observing it, it was overwhelming and I found the inclination to return to the mundane world to be too strong to avoid. About 2 years later I now feel like I’m able to put myself in the headspace of Shabbat, and have started to tame my thoughts to align with the day of rest without the guilt that typically comes from removal from productive life. It used to be difficult to avoid thinking in terms of tasks but with time it gets easier and the whole week begins to exist for Shabbat instead of the other way around.

Expand full comment

I believe it is healthy to give your brain a rest from technology

Expand full comment

I'm going to try this... I spend almost every morning reading online newsletters... and as a recovering substance abuser, I have an appreciation for making valuable changes. I'll need to buy a watch for the days I don't have my cell ;)

Expand full comment

We (my family - my wife, myself and our children) have been doing something similar for a couple years now, and it's been transformative. We first heard the idea from Andy Crouch, who suggests one hour a day, one day a week, and one week a year screen-free (that last one has proven the most difficult).

Expand full comment

(nailed it with the art)

Thanks for this. Very inspiring. And I think I'll practice it today as we head off for a Family Adventure

Expand full comment

It is healthy to give your brain a rest simply from DOING. Our multi-tasking hustle culture falsely conflates staying busy with a solid work ethic. Devices which purportedly "connect" us just exacerbate this "busyness" and contribute to our attention being splintered. Have a day of unplugging will certainly put some brakes on this tendency. But one could also consider being unplugged for portions of each day as well. When I worked as a sub in a childcare center during COVID, the policy there was to prohibit staff from having their phones on them while being with the children. The director's thinking was that if one is looking at one's phone, one is abandoning the child. I would propose that when our attention is on our devices, we may also be abandoning ourselves. The current view is that our devices help us to be more productive and efficient. I would propose that whenever work, but more specifically productivity and efficiency is valued over being present, we've abandoned ourselves to complete left hemisphere capture. This is what's contributing to our insane, frenetic way of living. Yes, shabbat is a good thing. And, if I remember correctly, the thinking in the Judaic tradition is that it serves to remind us we are not the masters or architects of our fate, that ultimately our well being ultimately rests on being in alignment with God or, for those who are not deists, the unknowable mystery of life itself. Better to trade in our hubris for this kind of humility.

Expand full comment

This is something my wife and I have talked about doing for years but not actually put into practice. Thanks for the extra nudge and inspiration!

This is also such a huge piece of why I love spending time in the wilderness and why I make that such a key piece of my work. Even outdoor recreation is more and more invaded by tech, but it’s a special trip out when I choose to turn the phone off and not even take any pictures. I find that can invite a much more conscious and sacred relationship with the nature and life around us -- we are out there to connect, appreciate, and be seen. Not to transact, achieve, extract or take advantage of. Coming back from an outing like that, the typically addictive lure of the phone feels so trivial.

Expand full comment

I used to do screen-free Saturdays! I haven’t done it recently so this was a good reminder. I do find that digital detoxes work (at least for me & my partner). We’ll take a week off occasionally from screen including TV, web surfing, social media and laptops except for the necessary email. And then every couple years, going on silent retreats also cuts off all those communications without much temptation!

Expand full comment

Especially children who are learning how to think not what to think, ❤️🙏🙏

Expand full comment

With a background in early childhood, I'm especially passionate about encouraging parents to not use their devices around children. But I also get how difficult it is for them to limit that when they're getting a constant deluge of stuff which needs/requires their attention. It's a maddening default in life these days it seems.

Expand full comment