11 Comments
Jun 12Liked by Bonnie Kristian

Given how much of your work is ON the internet, what does it mean to get tired of it?

Or maybe a different way of putting it: What might you change?

I tend to go cold turkey on anything I find has become an obsessive, joyless distraction -- I'm on one of my periodic Twitter fasts. (And it's the only real social media I use at this point.) I even deleted a Scrabble game from my phone this week.

Before I left Twitter, though, I did see an interesting prompt: "Name a hobby you have that isn't media consumption." And honestly, I don't have a genuine answer to that. When I'm not online I'm reading books or watching movies. I feel like I need another thing. But I've been saying that a long time, too.

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Jun 12Liked by Bonnie Kristian

I also gave up Insta, recently, because I was obsessively and joylessly distracting myself with the videos. Which is what Insta intended, of course. It means I've cut myself off from some friendships and my local movie club's group chat, and I hate that, but the cost of maintaining relationships shouldn't have to be ... that.

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I have given up Instagram 10 times in the last 2 years and I still keep going back! I am a glutton for punishment it seems.

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I just deleted my account outright. If you can hold off for 30 days, the data goes away forever. Which means you have to start new if you do go back. That makes it easier to stay away.

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And yes, it cuts me off from relationships and people, and I have some amount of FOMO. It used to be bad, but now it's bearable!

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author

These are great questions, and part of what I'm trying to get at here. As is probably obvious, I'm not quite sure! I have a sense of dissatisfaction but not (not yet?) a concrete notion of what would be better. I do have hobbies that aren't media consumption, but they tend to be hobbies that are hard to do with little kids in the house. E.g. gardening and running are best done in daylight, when kids are awake and in need of attention. Or I have a house project I want to do, but it would require big chunks of time that are tough to find in the evenings, and the location of it would require full clean-up after every session because of the kids. I should probably think about whether there are other non-media things I want to do that don't have these constraints. There is surely something.

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I keep thinking about taking a pottery class. I would be terrible at it!

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author

I took one in college and liked it a lot. We still use a few extant mugs and one fruit bowl. You should do it!

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Oh gosh!! I love that you are getting tired of the Internet, but I would not know if you were not for the Internet!! I am exhausted with the Internet as well—it seems like we are on some form of a similar journey. I hate Instagram, but I log on and log off every week. I take the app off some weeks, and then it's back on other days. I have a love-hate relationship with social media, and it's exhausting. I wish it never existed and I could understand life the way it used to be, but then I feel like I am weird or considering myself better than others, and that confuses me too!! All in all, I am confused, exhausted and need more sleep!

Plus I am also reading Jesus and the Disinherited for my cohort with Missio Alliance! If you want to discuss the book, I would love to and be honored! I look forward to hearing from you!

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Jun 13Liked by Bonnie Kristian

I still like the Internet, but ran out of love for social media. Some of it is really old now! Like a decade plus or more. Facebook is doing the same thing it always has. Musk turned X into a cesspool. It just doesn't interest me anymore. But I still like the online articles and substack :)

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Jun 17Liked by Bonnie Kristian

Love the full list of Lehrer’s rules. In a way it makes me think of a recent post of (granted he is a divisive fellow) Hemmingway’s 7 tips for writing, that I have been looking at now and again.

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