Back with a purpose
Hello. Last month, I decided to take a break from blogging. Today marks my return, and I see the discourse around here is still focused on the merits and hazards of AI, on people's relationship to their tech, and on meta-blogging. So it doesn't seem like I missed much while I was away.
A short recap of my life over the last 40 days: I'm happy to report that I've stayed off Reddit; that's almost two months away from what used to be a major trigger for my doom-scrolling. I've also limited my exposure to the news to a few sources—AP News, Reuters, and NPR—and no more than 5 minutes a day to glance at headlines. It's been mentally and emotionally peaceful on my end.
This freed up a lot of my time to engage in what's clearly become a hobby for me since last fall: music. I created a Rate Your Music account and it's been fun spending time on a dedicated website with other people passionate about music, without the site itself being affected by the ongoing proliferation of AI. Between RYM and Letterboxd and Goodreads, I've realized that my preferred forms of entertainment are music, movies, and books. This is in addition to video games (and on this front, I finally beat the main questline of Skyrim!). What I've also realized the opportunity costs that come up through these hobbies, both within-category (e.g., what music to enjoy vs. what music to explore) and between categories (e.g., time spent watching a film takes up time reading a book). I don't mean to be melodramatic, but I think getting away from the doom-scrolling made me recognize that even when I spend my time on positive experiences, there are constraints. This has led me to be more intentional with how I approach not only my hobbies, but relationships and life in general. Really, I attribute this to my getting away from the fog of doom-scrolling and giving myself the necessary time and space to get clarity about my life.
On that note, earlier this month I broke up with my best friend. We're taking a break from our friendship for a certain amount of time. This isn't the place for me to get into the details, but I bring this up as another instance of my being more deliberate with the structure and substance of my life; when a relationship does not fulfill me, or if it becomes a drain, I have it in me to move on. Some part of me is terrified by that aspect of myself—can I really be so cold? But then the better (I hope) part of me is content with myself, knowing that I have it in me to have the strength and courage to let go of the past.
Elsewhere I found a park near my place and have started getting into basic calisthenics. It's nice to walk and exercise in summer weather.
Altogether I've made a commitment to myself over the last few weeks: that for approximately one year (i.e., until a particular date in spring 2027), I am living what I call my "year of subtraction." This is the culmination of some thoughts that began with observations made in an earlier post about subtracting towards value. In short: I am freakin' tired of modern life's preoccupation with growth through additive avenues. There's so much noise that complicates life, whereas I have found that a subtractive approach keeps life simple, lean, and focused (as my aforementioned updates should convey).
So, what brings me back here? I feel like I've done enough preliminary work in solitude to have a good sense of direction for the next 11 months. I took some inventory and triaged a good chunk of the physical, digital, and metaphysical aspects of my life and I'm ready to prune the hell out of it all, to reduce the noise and to amplify the signals of my life. I sense that this pruning will be emotionally difficult, and that it'll be instructive. I'm restarting my blog so that I can record those lessons, mostly for myself but I'd be delighted if they resonate with others.
Here's to Round 2.