Tag Archives: unplug

Off the Radar

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In a sea of spotlights, where are the shadows?  With social media stalking, tireless geo tracking, and flashbulb-fanaticism waiting to pounce at every turn, the modern notion of privacy is a laughable replica of a bygone era. We are constantly held accountable to a faceless cyber public without even accepting the terms of the contract.

Our moves and minds are followed and noted. Our decisions are recorded and our secrets are revealed. We’re forced to tiptoe on top of vanishing ground, built from equal parts quicksand scrutiny and rash judgment. We cover tracks, erase browser histories, delete texts, and modify passwords. But is any of it necessary? Does anyone else really care what we’re doing? Isn’t everyone simply too busy tending to their gardens to keep track of their weird neighbor’s harvest? Our adherence to secrecy is probably born more from personal insecurity than driven by the fear of some blind existential bogeyman, waiting in the shadows to expose our various peccadilloes and indiscretions.

So what’s the fix? How can we shed the weight and stress of running away from prying eyes and curious ears? How do we ditch the peanut gallery gossip to find refuge in safer pastures? How can we quiet the static and silence that incessant buzz humming from every invisible corner of our lives?

Slide off the radar.

If you don’t want attention, stop asking for it. If a sense of peace is paramount, construct your foundation from the concrete of sturdy self-assurance, courage, and mettle. Muffle the critics by exiting the circus.

There’s a world of balance waiting inside the tranquility of an uninterrupted moment.

Don’t fear the off button. Embrace it.

Adolescence Interrupted

A Cinematic Pause

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Nothing is more valuable for the sanctity of your sanity like a thorough reset. Although we have been conditioned to believe that only those who blindly and defiantly sprint toward the finish line should be lauded, more health and happiness is bundled with balance than whatever rewards are gained from ceaseless target practice. The psychological and physical punishment from maniacal ambition is a detrimental recipe for reduced days and a diminished quality of life.

It’s vital we find the opportunity and willingness to hit that pause button when society’s waves start to throw a little too much water into the boat—and drowning is a metaphor easily rescued by the right kind of flotation device.

Meditation can wear countless masks. Sometimes people have no idea they are involved in a meditative practice because it’s simply something they enjoy doing. But wherever you can find opportunities to live in the present moment and release the worries of yesterday or tomorrow, you are involved in a kind of meditation.

There are only two diversions that allow me near-total absorption: tennis and film.

I’ve discussed my passion for tennis, so there’s no need to revisit my obsession in further detail. But I’ve never described the transformative benefits of sitting in a theater or on a couch and letting myself become thoroughly engrossed in a movie.

Although this has probably always been a part of my life—I can remember paragraphs of dialogue from a film I saw 20 years ago, but I can’t remember a conversation I had with someone last week—only in the past few years have I appreciated this cinematic pause from my endlessly spinning wheels and cripplingly compulsive thoughts.

I give myself the permission to unplug from the anxiety and stress of my daily existence. I’m not exactly sure why these are the only two activities that tell the engineer running my obsessive brain to take a coffee break, but I am beyond grateful to have discovered them.

If a respite from the pandemonium that lives between these ears can be found on a silver screen, I’m happy to take my seat and escape the static.

Adolescence Interrupted