By Brandon Alter:
This world will run you ragged if you let it. And technology does not make things any easier. There’s this overwhelming pressure to respond immediately, to be unceasingly available. And that shit is gonna age us well before our time. Consider the bear: she knows that when winter comes, it’s time to start powering down. Or hell, we could even look to the spirit of technology herself. You know it’s bad to keep your computer on all the time, right? It overheats, the battery loses its capacity, things fall apart. Well even though we are not computers, the same is true for us. All things, whether they come from nature or the world of technology, work better with occasional powering down.
This idea, this practice, of taking time out for yourself is outrageously counter-cultural. But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a gajillion times: taking care of yourself is not selfish. It’s actually the opposite. It’s the most generous thing you can do. Because when you are in right relationship with yourself, you will tend to be in right relationship with everyone around you.
Be real with me here: when was the last time you truly powered down? I’m not talking about a cat nap, or the last Yoga class you took. I’m talking about 24 hours of silence, or a day without your phone, or even just a lazy Sunday where you actually don’t do anything?
Do you even know what it would mean for you to power down? Does that thought terrify you? Does it antagonize your FOMO? We’ll flip the script on that. Imagine all the things you are missing out on INSIDE YOURSELF! Take this weekend and explore how you can power all the way down. Maybe it’s a long walk in nature. Maybe it’s a bath, followed by a nap, followed by another bath, and then some pleasure reading. I’m telling you right now that there will always be something or someone to distract you from this.