“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”
I never comment on essays but I absolutely have to for this one; thank you so much for this! This is one of my favourite pieces I've ever read on Substack. Will definitely be returning to this.
Love your thoughts here. We're beginning to realize how these devices and apps that were sold to us as helpful tools are engineered to addict and entrap. I got a flip phone about 6 months ago and I feel so much more free and alive now.
Also I made a little self-assessment recently to gauge phone addiction and the results I've seen are shocking but unfortunately not very surprising. PEOPLE ARE ADDICTED.
This is fantastically written! I am now wondering why I carry my phone from room to room all freaking day, seriously. Lately I have been actively resisting the urge to pull out my phone when out walking, it’s crazy how much I reach for it and how little value it adds (especially on a dog walk)!
Thank you Lauren! Ugh I know that's truly what sparked so much of this essay for me -- I started watching myself tote this thing around the house all day, having it nearby while I worked, nearby while I ate, out at the ready while in my car, just everywhere all the time, like some security blanket or pacifier. Like how did I (and we) get here?!
It’s subtle isn’t it the way they creep in. Then boom. They are omnipresent, in every work meeting, every coffee date, every run, walk, drive. Perhaps it’s time to relaunch the dumb flip phone where the most exciting thing was my fish background 😂
I'll be the salty old man talking about how things were better back in MY day. Because it was. It truly was. I can barely remember now not having anxiety and depression and loneliness over the barrage of information I consume, comparing, feeling left out, and all the negative emotions that consuming all the readily-available information/opinion of strangers bring about. I'm watching a series that gave me an idea in one scene where the main character is using an analog phone, she says she ditched her smartphone for a complete digital detox and my initial reaction was "why the hell didn't I think about that before, that is brilliant, I am doing that right away" and even before I finished that thought started thinking "but what if I need to order an Uber or get lost and need the map, insert excuse here, and another and another".
The smart phone and social media are the best and worst invention of our time (now in my current mental state tend to lean more on the latter), and I really want it gone, not just for myself but for others for exactly all the points you eloquently made in this piece.
Thank you for putting all these into words and validating my feelings when a family or friend is focused on their phones instead of looking into my eyes when we're together.
Thank you for your thoughts, Janice! I've been so encouraged to see the rise of 'dumb phones' and how more and more people are beginning to turn away from the big social media platforms. We still have a long ways to go, but the more awareness we individually begin to build about what our phones have taken from us (in the name of convenience and information), the better equipped we become to reclaim some of it in our lives.
Thank you Taylor for your thought provoking insight. Makes me so sad when family comes to visit, or sits in the passenger seat in my vehicle, attached and scrolling the entire time.
Even Substack has become my newest addiction. I am no different than those family members.
I feel you on all of this! I am absolutely included in this, too — it’s insidious. But the more I pretend that my phone is filled with soul-sucking dementors (isn’t it?) the more awareness I’m building about how often and when I am keeping it nearby, or picking it up.
Your piece perfectly captures that tension between digital convenience and primal knowing. Really struck by your contrast between life at sea (raw element connection) and "People/Pretend World." This maps exactly onto what I explore about protecting human essence in algorithmic spaces - how mechanical thinking tends to replace rather than support our deeper patterns of consciousness.
Your insight about phones becoming "Reality Escape Hatches" feels especially relevant to my work on sacred technology and preserving authentic human presence. Thank you for articulating this perspective on digital rewilding.
Thank you so much Lane! I resonate with everything you share here. I hope the more awareness that builds around what is silently slipping away will help us all commit to reclaiming and restoring it -- even if it is slow or imperfectly done. I appreciate your thoughts.
“…or when congratulations and birthday wishes and condolences and holidays are shared over text and DMs instead of phone calls or visits or letters.”
Ooooh, yes! This (and your entire piece) hits so deeply! I balked when it was my birthday last month and I did my annual login to say thanks to the birthday messages I received and noted that I got 2-3 EXACT same birthday messages.
When it was someone else’s birthday the next day, I noted that now we don’t even have to type out the message, you just select a pre-written one and away you go. Never been so disappointed in humans before; seriously why bother?
It certainly makes hand-made things (like letters, or small craft type gifts) stand out, doesn't it? Or even a phone call! I am trying to do a lot more of both, right now
Taylor! This piece slaps. I just got done reading LOOK UP and I really appreciate everything you had to say on this topic, and your words deeply resonate with me. Even though I've been off of social media for going on 3 years now, I still want to throw my phone (and other people's phones too) out the window. Thank you for sharing and your brutal honesty. Oh, and thank you for being the one to inspire me to get off of social media in the first place 💜
Paige! How wonderful to hear from you and that's amazing that you've been off social for 3 years now, wow. I hope that we're on the edge of a shift where this becomes more and more normal to see. Thank you for reading and for leaving such a kind note, I hope life is feeling good for you these days!
This is an absolutely phenomenal piece of writing. It could easily be in the long form essay sections of The Guardian or The New York Times. I want to yell it from the rooftops.
“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”
― Edward Abbey
I never comment on essays but I absolutely have to for this one; thank you so much for this! This is one of my favourite pieces I've ever read on Substack. Will definitely be returning to this.
Wow what a kind note to receive, thank you so much Ree! I'm so happy this one connected so deeply with you🙏
Love your thoughts here. We're beginning to realize how these devices and apps that were sold to us as helpful tools are engineered to addict and entrap. I got a flip phone about 6 months ago and I feel so much more free and alive now.
Also I made a little self-assessment recently to gauge phone addiction and the results I've seen are shocking but unfortunately not very surprising. PEOPLE ARE ADDICTED.
Here's a link to the assessment if anyone's interested- https://apolloanderson.substack.com/p/am-i-addicted-to-my-phone?r=m1j0d
I’ve definitely been considering a flip phone myself lately!
This is fantastically written! I am now wondering why I carry my phone from room to room all freaking day, seriously. Lately I have been actively resisting the urge to pull out my phone when out walking, it’s crazy how much I reach for it and how little value it adds (especially on a dog walk)!
Thank you Lauren! Ugh I know that's truly what sparked so much of this essay for me -- I started watching myself tote this thing around the house all day, having it nearby while I worked, nearby while I ate, out at the ready while in my car, just everywhere all the time, like some security blanket or pacifier. Like how did I (and we) get here?!
It’s subtle isn’t it the way they creep in. Then boom. They are omnipresent, in every work meeting, every coffee date, every run, walk, drive. Perhaps it’s time to relaunch the dumb flip phone where the most exciting thing was my fish background 😂
I'll be the salty old man talking about how things were better back in MY day. Because it was. It truly was. I can barely remember now not having anxiety and depression and loneliness over the barrage of information I consume, comparing, feeling left out, and all the negative emotions that consuming all the readily-available information/opinion of strangers bring about. I'm watching a series that gave me an idea in one scene where the main character is using an analog phone, she says she ditched her smartphone for a complete digital detox and my initial reaction was "why the hell didn't I think about that before, that is brilliant, I am doing that right away" and even before I finished that thought started thinking "but what if I need to order an Uber or get lost and need the map, insert excuse here, and another and another".
The smart phone and social media are the best and worst invention of our time (now in my current mental state tend to lean more on the latter), and I really want it gone, not just for myself but for others for exactly all the points you eloquently made in this piece.
Thank you for putting all these into words and validating my feelings when a family or friend is focused on their phones instead of looking into my eyes when we're together.
Thank you for your thoughts, Janice! I've been so encouraged to see the rise of 'dumb phones' and how more and more people are beginning to turn away from the big social media platforms. We still have a long ways to go, but the more awareness we individually begin to build about what our phones have taken from us (in the name of convenience and information), the better equipped we become to reclaim some of it in our lives.
Such an insightful and inspiring piece - reading it again as it’s one to be thought about and considered and then take action
thank you so much!
Thank you Taylor for your thought provoking insight. Makes me so sad when family comes to visit, or sits in the passenger seat in my vehicle, attached and scrolling the entire time.
Even Substack has become my newest addiction. I am no different than those family members.
I have work to do!
I feel you on all of this! I am absolutely included in this, too — it’s insidious. But the more I pretend that my phone is filled with soul-sucking dementors (isn’t it?) the more awareness I’m building about how often and when I am keeping it nearby, or picking it up.
So true! The awareness is so important to making the change.
Your piece perfectly captures that tension between digital convenience and primal knowing. Really struck by your contrast between life at sea (raw element connection) and "People/Pretend World." This maps exactly onto what I explore about protecting human essence in algorithmic spaces - how mechanical thinking tends to replace rather than support our deeper patterns of consciousness.
Your insight about phones becoming "Reality Escape Hatches" feels especially relevant to my work on sacred technology and preserving authentic human presence. Thank you for articulating this perspective on digital rewilding.
Lane
Thank you so much Lane! I resonate with everything you share here. I hope the more awareness that builds around what is silently slipping away will help us all commit to reclaiming and restoring it -- even if it is slow or imperfectly done. I appreciate your thoughts.
“…or when congratulations and birthday wishes and condolences and holidays are shared over text and DMs instead of phone calls or visits or letters.”
Ooooh, yes! This (and your entire piece) hits so deeply! I balked when it was my birthday last month and I did my annual login to say thanks to the birthday messages I received and noted that I got 2-3 EXACT same birthday messages.
When it was someone else’s birthday the next day, I noted that now we don’t even have to type out the message, you just select a pre-written one and away you go. Never been so disappointed in humans before; seriously why bother?
It certainly makes hand-made things (like letters, or small craft type gifts) stand out, doesn't it? Or even a phone call! I am trying to do a lot more of both, right now
Taylor! This piece slaps. I just got done reading LOOK UP and I really appreciate everything you had to say on this topic, and your words deeply resonate with me. Even though I've been off of social media for going on 3 years now, I still want to throw my phone (and other people's phones too) out the window. Thank you for sharing and your brutal honesty. Oh, and thank you for being the one to inspire me to get off of social media in the first place 💜
Paige! How wonderful to hear from you and that's amazing that you've been off social for 3 years now, wow. I hope that we're on the edge of a shift where this becomes more and more normal to see. Thank you for reading and for leaving such a kind note, I hope life is feeling good for you these days!
Love this so much! And what a quote from Sylvia Plath 💗
Thank you Matilda!
So good! Thank you 🙏 I’ll be sharing it with my family.
I couldn't have written this better myself, thank you for these words. It is so refreshing to read. Thank you, thank you <3
This is an absolutely phenomenal piece of writing. It could easily be in the long form essay sections of The Guardian or The New York Times. I want to yell it from the rooftops.
well this is a week-making kind of comment - thank you, wow. I'm just glad to know it resonated with you! I appreciate your words.