Tildes Screenless Day Discussion Thread - June 2021
What is a "Screenless Day"?
Tildes "Screenless Day" is a simple event aimed at encouraging people to take a temporary step away from toxic or consuming aspects of technology and spend their time and energies elsewhere.
When is it?
It takes place over the weekend starting on the first Friday of each month. Participants will choose that Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to take as their screenless day -- whichever works best for their schedule.
Some people might not be able to participate in that window, and that's fine too. They can choose to shift their day earlier or later as needed. It is also completely fine (and encouraged!) to take personal screenless days separate from the event if you like. This thread will be posted the first weekend of each month, but it is open for comments the entire month.
Does it have to be truly "screenless"?
"Screenless" is an ideal, not a mandate. The spirit of the day is to deliberately step away from toxic or consuming aspects of technology, and what that means is different for each person. Thus, it is up to each participant to determine what "screenless" means to them. Some might only choose to not use social media for a day; some might choose to eliminate all "screens" but still use their ereader; some may maintain some screen use but only for necessity (e.g. work; classes; GPS; etc.). Some might get rid of screens entirely, or go fully "unplugged" for the day.
How do I participate?
You do not have to do anything formal at all to participate -- simply take your screenless day in whatever way is best for you!
If you’d like to, use this thread to share plans for your upcoming screenless day or summaries/reflections about it once it’s over.
Can I chat in this thread if I'm not participating?
Yes! The more, the merrier! Discussion from anyone, participant or non-participant alike, is welcome. Though, do understand that it might take a bit longer than normal for some people to respond. :)
It's a bit disheartening for me to note that almost all of my 'productive' activities are restricted to screens. Everything from studying, making music to communicating with friends overseas are all digital -- nothing 'analog'
Hopefully I can muster the courage to try this out one of these summer days!
I did my first "screenless day" this past Sunday. My rules were no digital screens from the time I woke up until just before the time I went to sleep (to set an alarm for work, and check Slack notifications just in case). I held to that, except I suppose for the clock on my stove. :P I had a leisurely morning, and spent the rest of the day hauling out garbage that had collected in the woods—ended up with four 55 gallon contractor drum liners of junk, mostly cans (lightweight and crushable, so I could get a lot per unit volume). It was about 95 degrees and sunny, but the trees offered enough shade that I didn't pass out from heatstroke. In the evening I had a pleasant dinner and spent some time reading. Turned in early for the night. A nice experience overall and I'll probably try it again later this month.
Do you have a more specific figure for how much time that is? Because that sounds like a lot of time.
Also, how large of an area are you talking about here?
That sounds a bit heavy. I'm assuming you brought something like a wheelbarrow (perhaps, also probably an extreme scenario) to carry all that around?
As in, went to sleep?
I started around 10:30 AM, took a (long) break for lunch around 1 PM, and was finished by 4:30 PM, give or take. This patch of woods is a couple square miles, but almost all the garbage I picked up was centralized in an area perhaps the size of a basketball court. Because the legal drinking age here is 21, many young people are conditioned to party in the woods—which is dangerous for them and irritating for anyone who is trying to get away from the suburban hellscape for a breath of nature. I grew up in this town, so I know all the spots (they're not hard to find anyway). Most of the endlessly accumulating trash is found either in these locations or along relatively specific paths from nearby streets. The rest is dumped by nearby institutions that shall not be named, or blows in from neighbors' recycling.
I don't own a wheelbarrow. I take out the bags on my back, one per trip. The worst of the garbage swamps happens to be within a reasonable distance of a road I can take to reach a residential dumpster, maybe a quarter mile. I'm probably not supposed to use that, but no one's ever stopped me. The neighbors know better than to anger the Lorax.
Sorry, I should clarify. When I say "turned in early for the night" I really mean "turned into a werewolf, my accursed nighttime form, so that I can eat the children who are littering so ferociously instead of picking up after them." One of these days I think I might buy a nice heavy metal trash can and carry it out there as a permanent citizen-operated receptacle. Would make my job a heck of a lot easier.
Incredible! Best of luck with the retreat.
Also, I’d love to hear about your experiences once it’s over, if that’s something you’d be willing to share.
Nice! Where are you going on retreat, and what type of spiritual practice and style of meditation is it (if you don't mind my asking)?
Zen is my personal preference for spiritual practice, as well as the Zazen meditation that goes with it, so I went to Zen Mountain Monastery in upstate NY a few times for retreat (well over a decade ago now though). Even though they weren't entirely silent retreats, they were still incredibly fulfilling nonetheless, and did me a world of good at the time. And I have even recently been considering going back there again once the pandemic is past us... although sadly it looks like they only offer weekend retreats now. :(
Edit: Oh, nm... apparently they do still offer the week-long Sesshin every month, and even longer Residential retreats that can last anywhere from a week to several years.