Days Like These…

Sometimes the best rituals
are those we cannot plan,
requiring only pine needles and wind,
open eyes
and a long, slow-sinking sun
settling gently into shadows.
Sometimes the best magic
of all is made with
what is exactly right now,
bluestem grass and gray feathers,
raccoon footsteps
between the trees,
laughter and joined hands,
a faith in the cycles of retreat
and renewal.
This is what we are here for,
days like these.

I decided to take social media break as 2021 drew to a close, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, something I’ve needed to do for a long time, and yet, something I’ve always talked myself out of. I need this for our business, I think. It is part of my work. How else will I reach people? I will just post a few more things. While, inside, the hunger to really listen, to defragment my mind and re-collect my soul continued to build to a peak of fervency and desire. The blessing and the curse of social media is that everything is in one place. Convenient, yes. Holds you hostage, also yes. Exposes you to more information/information than you can reasonably hold and process, also yes. The first day of my break, I was amazed how often I was tempted to cheat, how many ways I came up with to sneak around the limit and to just do one little thing anyway. I was also surprised to discover how much extra space there is in my mind and how liberating it is to step away from the clamor of so many other voices. I am also surprised how invisible I feel, how unseen and unheard. As the days pass, I feel it though, my scattered pieces coming home. I knew that social media was affecting my focus and my brain functioning, could feel it fragmenting my thoughts, and making my focus and attention jumpy and scattered. In these days of silence, something begins to heal inside. I feel a bit invisible, yes, but I also feel whole. I feel like I am coming back online, to my own life.

What was originally intended to be a ten day break has now extended into the first two weeks of the new year as well and while I’m not saying I’m never going back, I find I am in no rush to re-engage.

In this reclaimed space within, I’ve also found the song of a new book walking up to me, hands extended and eyes wide.

We walked tonight under long wings of twilight, last vestiges of day sinking purple and mauve into the horizon. Somehow we end up talking about cryptocurrency and NFTs.

Give me dirt and give me stars, I say, as our feet crunch across the brown gravel, our shoulders hunched slightly against the wind. Give me life, right here, where it is.

As we come back up our driveway, we spot a doe at the compost pile, she watches us silently as we turn to make one more lap down the dusky gravel road.

I also made a companion audio with many more thoughts and associated resources for our Goddess Magic community on Patreon.

Biggest lesson: refreshing sensation of clear and creative space in my own head. Also, how many other ways there are to connect with people outside of social media and the increased depth possible with really getting into their work, instead of just seeing tiny glimpses.

Biggest drawback: not seeing/interacting with the lovely things other people share online (primarily in FB groups).

Books I recently read:

Dopamine Nation (do not actually recommend without reading reviews first–it has some disturbing, extreme stories that I feel like were kind of foisted about me without my awareness/consent.). Focus is on all types of extremes in addictive behavior.

Dopamine Detox (very short and focused on social media–which is the focus I wanted–I enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t necessarily suggest buying it, definitely a good library check out).

In my Kindle waiting: Digital Minimalism.

Videos I watched:

Marketing without social media

Can I market without social media

I quit social media

Why I quit social media as an artist

Quit social media (deep work)

A cluttered life, middle-class abundance

Didn’t finish yet: Social Dilemma documentary on Netflix

Side note: I participated (for half the month) in December Detox with Annika Spalding. She has a closing video about it here.