12 Comments
Aug 11Liked by Cissy Hu

Great article!

I had a great time joining- I hope you and Ryan continue hosting similar events! The problem I face with technology is that when I remove my phone/computer/etc from the equation there's a big gap and I don't always know what to fill it with. Enjoying an unplugged day with friends & meeting new people was a great way to fill that gap.

Also, agreed on how fully formed my thoughts were. It's kind of scary to think how much of life I live while short circuiting my thoughts

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thanks for joining us, Don! plunge and all 😉

I know what you mean – I think practicing sabbath in community with others is so meaningful and the key to feeling more deeply connected

meditation retreats are more of my solo sabbaths in a way although I do think at some point, I'll try doing a solo tech sabbath in the city and see what new boundaries I can push

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Just did this for most of my family vacation in Hawaii. Already life-changing. So glad to see this discussion in the water. Our culture needs it. My kids need it. I need it!

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what a place to do a tech sabbath! sounds incredible.

have you read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt? hope to get to a place where we can ensure the next generation has paths towards connecting with themselves in ways they may never have as children (unlike our pre-mobile worlds!)

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YES. I’m all over that book and pulling back on screens for my kids (and myself!) - here’s a piece I wrote about it earlier this year:

https://alecmcnayr.substack.com/p/screens-kids-and-pablo-picasso

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thanks for sharing! will check it out :)

you might be interested in this piece on running a no smartphone experiment with kids and their friend group: https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/parenting/article/what-happened-when-i-made-my-sons-and-their-friends-go-without-smartphones-vpcnbj58d

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Love the idea of these tech sabbaths. I do hope we can pass these thoughts on to future generations. Where I live, I see preteen kids on phones. Scary!

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Aug 18·edited Aug 18Author

I've seen babies scrolling on iPads! it's amazing (and scary) how quickly they learn

here's to contributing to a future where the next generation has a sense of what coming to themselves is like in a world that's so easy to lose ourselves

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Powerful post! I like the idea of a modern day sabbath. This holiday, for the first time in a long while, I am traveling without a laptop. And really cutting down screen time. It feels great.

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I've found traveling without a laptop surprisingly hard – it's like my security blanket, something I take out to write or do work with whenever I have a free moment. inspired by you!

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Beautiful post and glimpse. I don’t do tech Sabbaths but I keep Sabbath every week with more intentional media consumption and no work or shopping and am always grateful to have a recharge day with less stimulation and input. I also remember dial up days and am so grateful I remember life before looking at screens all day

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thanks, Emily :) funny how nostalgic it feels to think back to those days – some days, I wish we still relied on dial up and were untethered

I love that you keep a sabbath – it's amazing how refreshing it feels with just one day a week of less stimulation!

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