Digital detox - is it possible?
E203: Rest & Recap 29 - 200th edition & Digital Detox, announcing the Winner of the prize!
Rest Element 29: Digital detox
A recap of editions 197-202: 200th edition; On collecting and connecting with others
Before we move on, the BRAGGING RIGHTS win for best answer in E201 goes to
with right on her heels.Rest element 29: Digital detox
I’ve been challenged to walk my talk and take a real digital detox.
We are heading out to our annual cottage long weekend with our family and friends. We are adding a Digital Detox as one of our weekend activities! Inspired by a tradition my son and his friends have for being “present” when in each other’s company (the first person who reaches for their phone picks up the tab for dinner 1) the person who cannot be separated from their phone or laptop during social hours will have to do dishes. Less distraction. Fewer alerts. Fewer photos2. Is this possible? I’ll report results next week!
Do you schedule time away from your rectangles? How successful are you in decoupling from your screens? What benefits do you experience?
Rest series: Every 7th edition of this newsletter is dedicated to Rest and Recovery. These are crucial 21st-century success skills. Done right, proactively programming in rest breaks prevents burnout. We explore different techniques and discuss rest in each of these issues. Here are some previous rest topics Rest, Recovery, Reset
Recap: Digest of issues 197 - 202
Passing the 200th edition, celebration was a theme for this cycle. You may have also picked up on another undercurrent in various issues: Community.
Now you may think I’m jumping on the #community bandwagon, but I’ve been beating this drum from the beginning!
As
commented:“I will gladly raise a glass and toast to the vision of community for the next year. I’m always inspired by your commitment to it, starting with family, and rippling outward to the human tribe.”
Rick’s comment on E201: She doesn’t just tilt the future—she coaxes it into bloom
Building on Jon Haidt’s insights on the role of community [while raising new generations] in this new digital age, I believe we need heirloom skills that create genuine connections online - skills we can then, with intentionality, extend into the physical world. In a recent conversation with
, we marvelled that we are as real to each other though we have not met … yet. Because “separation is a state of mind, not miles”.3 (link below)Those we truly love are not separated by continents, oceans, or dimensions. Their prayers throw an invisible cloak of support around us, protecting us until we touch flesh again. Their words and wisdoms resurface unbidden at moments when we most need them, guiding us. This mindset helps us survive and believe that someone is waiting for us.
From E102: “Separation is a state of mind, not miles.”
I believe it is a legacy of my immigrant history. Since the late 1890s, my ancestors have travelled to different continents to find work. Yet they were able to maintain a close connection to family and community. Their technology? … intermittent snail mail letters, word-of-mouth messages and parcels sent home with others from their community, and prayers.
Connection is an essential part of being part of a community.
TL;DR
21st-CENTURY AND HEIRLOOM SKILLS: Community connection. Closing loops. Understanding transitions and reEntry. Story-crafting.
RAISING FUTURE-READY LEADERS: “Ask the right question” is a core education building block currently important in AI prompt-building.
FUTURE OF WORK: Playing with AI
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT …
The 200th edition: (currently the 4th most popular article on my Substack - thanks for all the loving!)
From one of my first (E1) and consistent supporters,
: “I feel honoured to be an early supporter. Thank you for taking me along your journey - it’s been a blast writing and learning together. 🥰 I also love this takeaway: “I finally embraced ‘90% perfect and published, over 100% unsaid?’ ”To one of our newest Tribe Tilt members,
: “I'm new here, but I've enjoyed the hopeful, encouraging, and insightful community you’ve built. I look forward to participating in the next 200. Also, can I go to the next writing retreat in Ireland ☺️”This post currently has 47 comments. I appreciate each of you who took the time to like and love my Substack over the years, and to write back. Go Tribe Tilt!
Meeting
in Porto and sharing the backstory, the simple invitation that started my journey into becoming a published author. [And the challenges of creating that continue to plague authors at edition 197.}Write "between the solstices"
10:43 pm. My neon cursor still blinks like crazy against an empty black blank screen. I flubbed my planning cycle - don’t have an edition waiting to publish. I’m waiting for inspiration.
From
who greeted me with a bear hug at Porto airport arrivals, waiting 1.5 hours for my delayed flight: “This is my smile after 3 hours of therapy about all the crossroads in my life! 😅 So happy I got to welcome you to Portugal “And
reflecting on how we came to be so connected: “I would not have met you without Writing in Community. Feeling grateful!”How tall is 2" Zoom Kelly Davis in person?
It is the kind of day when the sunscreen just peels off your face, a thin bead of sweat runs steadily down your spine, and you question even the lightest silk on your skin. 41C and counting. The temperature difference between the shaded and the sunny side of the street is at least 10 degrees. Sevilla is under a heat advisory. But so is much of Europe. A…
Crowd-sourced heat and travel related tips in the comments section of this post when I got to meet EdTech specialist
in Lisbon: Haha Karena you certainly had me surprised and laughing to see this pop up. Thanks for stopping by and grateful to connect w you two! 🫶til next time’
My annual Climate plea was all the more persistent based on our hot air experiences across Europe these weeks when temperatures would swell to 42C. I shared the poem that kickstarted my vocal participation in Climate Awareness by showcasing Rudy Francisco’s poem “When the Water is Gone”
: “Wow, I watched the whole video - thanks for sharing this, Karena! Makes me think as someone who is part of the next generation. While education is my primary advocacy, I can't look away and [I] care about our climate, too.”
I’m on Team Toronto - meeting with
who, with , is creating Act Two (click to join a group of people supporting each other towards new goals and extensions of their work).The title of the piece was written by ChatGPT (with some hallucinations) and inspired a “Bragging Rights” award re-write including this phrase: ‘She’s the kind of futurist who can convince a luddite to embrace AI while showing the astrophysicist that a child's grubby fingers hold more mysteries than all the stars.' by SciFi writer (and ex-political speech writer)
: “One of my hobbyhorses is varying sentence structure and length. The AI version you posted did a poor job of that. I'm still not happy with my edits, but it's a bit better. One of the "tricks" I learned from political speechwriting is the masterful pause followed by the ending tagline. I tried to apply that here.”Cassandra also very generously offered 3 paid monthly subscriptions to my newsletter to those who share her newsletter leading to a new subscriber:
reEntry: engineering the end of an adventure and the beginning of becoming
Every journey has an after
The 21st-century skill of how we manage transitions, the liminal space and the challenge of reEntry are discussed.
shared his experience of reEntry: “we're just finishing (what will probably be) or most memorable reEntry story. After seven years in Europe, we've retired, moved back to the US, and built a house.”And in an interesting twist,
wrote a great piece the same week on how he was launching on a 5-week family focused trip with his children, incorporating life lessons from Clayton Christensen. Well worth reading for parents who are wondering if they can do what we did, but in smaller doses.
[Do you like my alternate logo? It was a gift from
who teaches us how to crystallize words into visuals. He shares basic frameworks, philosophies and tips in his weekly post Explain Ideas Visually.]Our small and supportive community in Tribe Tilt believes in the best of humanity - connecting people, sharing ideas, and exploring thoughts respectfully. We believe we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us. The best idea can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Did you like the concept that every 7th edition is a Rest edition? These digests make a great issue to share with others as you invite them to join our Tribe of difference-makers.
Is this your first visit to Tilt the Future? Join our Tribe Tilt by hitting this button below:
Stay healthy. From there, all else becomes possible.
See you next week!
Karena
E102: Separation is a state of mind, not miles
Separation is a state of mind, not miles
Today’s edition is written especially for my nephew who starts university far from home this week, and for his mother (my sister). I wonder, did you need to hear it too?
Great piece—thanks for digging into this! I’ve found that unplugging isn’t just a weekend retreat but a mini ritual: I personally “go dark” three times a year—no email, no social feeds, nada—for 48 hours each time. It’s amazing how quickly your brain shifts focus from the ping-pong of notifications to noticing the world around you: the taste of morning coffee, a friend’s laugh, even that book on your nightstand finally gets some attention.
I’m curious: have you experimented with shorter digital fasts (like 12 or 24 hours) to ease into it? Or do you think the big, bold break is what really shifts the dial? Looking forward to your thoughts!
Oh, the digital detox! My detox episodes happen infrequently, and they typically occur because I've taken a proper holiday. Even so, I find that Jeff and I enjoy our digital time (me on laptop, him on mobile) with a different mindset when we're away from our norm. It feels more...rebellious, more luxurious. Totally shut down? Very difficult, but the waves in Mendocino can work their magic and pull us away from the digital shore.