Staying with the trouble

Clawing our way out of the anxious space our smartphones back us into

Hello, how are you? I haven’t been here much, mainly because of Easter holidays and having extra time with my lovely kids. The post below is a little bit about releasing the pressure on ourselves to do multiple things at once, and I think the (often self-imposed) pressure to have to “show up” in multiple online spaces is another thing we - sometimes - simply do not have time to do. At least not without depleting ourselves.

Small eskimo on a chilly Suffolk beach

You know when someone pops up online and explains where they’ve been almost apologetically, perhaps that they’ve had some much-needed time off-line, and no one really minds anyway? People “get” that real life is separate from online life, even though both are interwoven. We’re all trying to navigate our own feet being in both these spaces, with the stickiness of smartphone design always pulling us one way. And of course there is much to value about connection online. I want to be around here, I want to write and I want to engage on Substack, and I love hearing from readers, either in emails or comments. So I’m glad to hopeefully have a wee bit more time coming up to post and read and comment on Substack, now that the school holidays are nearly done. I hope you’re well (do let me know in a reply or comment!) and I hope you enjoy this first of 2 posts on the way my smartphone has changed how I engage with my life.