I haven’t posted anything here for over two months and am distancing myself from most of the hoopla on the web for now.
First there was Bruce Charlton’s Addicted to Distraction. Then, the other day there was Tony Schwartz’s Addicted to Distraction. That was the final nail in something I’ve been thinking about for awhile. Not disconnecting, but at least disengaging. From the so-called news, from my hourly perusal of Drudge, from obsessively tweeting out links to stuff I thought important. Really, it wasn’t.
Yesterday I was checking out some personnel files where I work and I had a chance to read my own hiring file, the one they put together on me after interviews. Three of my former superiors gave my overall performance, out of 10: 10, 9.5, 9/10. Which is nice, except for the last 10 years I’ve spent like four fucking hours a day on the web reading “news” and making blog posts and so on.
I’ve been coasting on my IQ and natural ability to read, evaluate and brief information very quickly for my whole life. I mean, since kindergarten. I haven’t really applied myself to shit, and here I am at 55 making a solid upper-middle-class salary and living large.
I sure as hell don’t want to die in 15 or 20 or 30 years and think, as the lights go out, “I sure did keep up on useless internet shit.” It’s not all useless, of course, but the trick is knowing the difference…
I’m writing a book about “Sanity.” If I ever complete it I’ll get back here and flog it.
Meantime, you might want to check out Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr’s book The Power of Full Engagement. One of the authors of the book on full engagement found it nearly impossible to quit his internet addiction.
“Full engagement” is what’s needed, all right. But not on fighting with SJWs, winning internet threads or discussing “news.”
I still might read and comment on your blog, occasionally, so don’t go soft, my niggas.
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I hope you still write, even (especially!) on non-topical stuff. What insights you gain from solitude, please share them, ha.
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Thanks much.
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I enjoy your digital footprint on Twitter. I hope you don’t vanish there. If so, I will miss you.
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This post resonates so strongly with my own place in life and experience. Thank you for posting and best of luck.
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Best blog post ever. I need to do less webz and more lifez myself.
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We’ll be waiting in the golden age for you, friend. Stay right.
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