In between improving my backyard, one task at a time, I am rereading Digital Minimalism.
I lingered on his definition of this concept for a bit.
"Digital Minimalism: A philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else." (p. 28)
My emphasis here is a note, that in order to be a discerning and wise consumer of technology when embracing digital minimalism, I have to know what my values are.
In the margins, I wrote out some of my presently held values:
  • Curiosity
  • Mindfulness
  • Justice
  • Integrity
  • Learning
Do the technologies I have pushed pause on make the cut?
Twitter/X is a conundrum.
Going for it is the learning I have experienced from the medium. Some smart educators have remained active in that space. I also have curated a list of journalists who offer their honest takes on the current events of our times. In addition, I have seen how social media has shined a light on inequities in our world and can broaden one's perspective about the world.
On the flip side, Twitter is the antithesis of mindfulness. As Newport notes, using social media is "a lopsided arms race", in which we find ourselves "increasingly dominated by their influence, allowing them to control more and more of how we spend our time, how we feel, and how we behave" (p. 24). He interviewed multiple experts in this field. They revealed how Silicon Valley has invested billions of dollars to create ways to keep people online through incentivizing highly emotional posts and intermittent rewards such as likes and retweets.
I think what's necessary about the digital declutter is the 30 day pause. I don't think I would fully appreciate the absence of social media in my life until I have embraced a world without it. Through more attention on leisure in real life, I am hopefully realigning my actions and thinking with my values.
For example, I have spotted jewelweed in parts of my yard.
I used to get so annoyed by this weed. It's easy to pull yet aggressive in its spread.
Through my curiosity, I learned that jewelweed is a companion plant. It grows next to nettles and poison ivy. Its leaves, when crushed, removes the oil and reduces rashes when people accidentally touch the latter.
Not that I am not continuing to remove it from my property. But I am more mindful and even a little grateful for its presence. Maybe something I would not have learned had my mind been in a less curious state.