I'm a lover of silence. I try to remember that quietness is a privilege. I don't tend to listen to music. I've spent the afternoon listening to the rain and the wind.
I know what you mean! Although I don't have the same degree of physical aversion to video, having spent years smoothing out my nervous system with tai chi I just don't want to fill it up again with brutal scenes of murder, war, news and debate etc. After expanding the senses to hear the birds, the sea, rustling leaves, some of the music I used to like is too aggressive and shouty now. We watch those old tv shows too!
Over twenty years ago I found myself rushing home from work so that I could rush through supper preparation so that I could watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to slow my experience of time and to stop rushing so I gave up my television. First my relationship to time changed. Next, my nervous system settled and I focused on improving the quality of my relationships. Finally, I started seeking respite from the sounds and noises that are such a part of living in an urban area in the United States.
At the time I did not realize how profoundly these actions would change my life because I had taken my environment for granted.
Today I am now proactive rather than reactive regarding the visual and aural parts of my life. Additionally, I dedicate time and energy to maintaining good relationships with my beloveds.
I'm struggling with addiction to stimulus, or rather the wrong type of stimulus. Fortunately, I have a strong aversion to adverts too, so as YouTube bypasses ad blockers, I retreat to quieter, saner places. I detatched from TV over 30 years ago but damn you, corporate takeover of the interwebs!
Now where did the effective rejection of adverts emerge and how to harness that bloody mindedness once more...?
Caro, I've never heard someone else say this: "Since that day, I have never knowingly watched footage from that day, or any other television news, nor video news of any kind. If I walk into a room where it is on, I walk back out. My family know I won’t join them until it’s over or turned off, and they don’t mind at all. If I see it on a screen in a public place, I look away, walk away, or face the other way." Reading it makes me feel less alone. For me, the day came when Trump was elected. I opted out of all news---video, audio and written---and haven't missed it for a minute.
I am reminded of a healing camp/retreat that I took part in a decade ago. There were a dozen of us gathering around a Huichol elder for a week deep in rural Pembrokeshire. He advised us that the healing would come from the land and the tribe we were creating together. We were encouraged to do everything together, avoid spending time alone. And we were advised to not engage with any media. No phones, no writing, no reading no radio, no TV. Drawing, sketching, painting, collaging were OK. As were singing, story telling, drumming and dancing. On reflection, I think that we were being encouraged to focus our attention towards each other, to attend to the quality of our relationships rather than external influences. It was a beautiful time. I made friends that remain close to this day. Midway through the week, a member of the tribe needed to go to the nearest town to get to a post office. I offered to give them a lift. I remember vividly the shock to my nervous system that both of us felt when we arrived in town. I felt physically assaulted by the tsunami of sensory information that simply walking down a small town high street brought crashing down on me. I couldn't wait to get back to our little tribe in the woods. I was amazed by how quickly my body had habituated to this gentler way of being. It had only taken three or four days for my body to relax away from its addiction to media stimulation, supported by the care of other people with similar intent.
I'm a lover of silence. I try to remember that quietness is a privilege. I don't tend to listen to music. I've spent the afternoon listening to the rain and the wind.
I would probably benefit from rebalanced my inputs.
I know what you mean! Although I don't have the same degree of physical aversion to video, having spent years smoothing out my nervous system with tai chi I just don't want to fill it up again with brutal scenes of murder, war, news and debate etc. After expanding the senses to hear the birds, the sea, rustling leaves, some of the music I used to like is too aggressive and shouty now. We watch those old tv shows too!
Over twenty years ago I found myself rushing home from work so that I could rush through supper preparation so that I could watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to slow my experience of time and to stop rushing so I gave up my television. First my relationship to time changed. Next, my nervous system settled and I focused on improving the quality of my relationships. Finally, I started seeking respite from the sounds and noises that are such a part of living in an urban area in the United States.
At the time I did not realize how profoundly these actions would change my life because I had taken my environment for granted.
Today I am now proactive rather than reactive regarding the visual and aural parts of my life. Additionally, I dedicate time and energy to maintaining good relationships with my beloveds.
I'm struggling with addiction to stimulus, or rather the wrong type of stimulus. Fortunately, I have a strong aversion to adverts too, so as YouTube bypasses ad blockers, I retreat to quieter, saner places. I detatched from TV over 30 years ago but damn you, corporate takeover of the interwebs!
Now where did the effective rejection of adverts emerge and how to harness that bloody mindedness once more...?
[Editted for a predictive typo.]
Caro, I've never heard someone else say this: "Since that day, I have never knowingly watched footage from that day, or any other television news, nor video news of any kind. If I walk into a room where it is on, I walk back out. My family know I won’t join them until it’s over or turned off, and they don’t mind at all. If I see it on a screen in a public place, I look away, walk away, or face the other way." Reading it makes me feel less alone. For me, the day came when Trump was elected. I opted out of all news---video, audio and written---and haven't missed it for a minute.
Hey, no video bro!
I have never even heard Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer's voices. But I do know their policies.
Good luck avoiding screens given the revenant... Our election is on Thursday, I do postal voting, so I can safely ignore it all until the result.
I am reminded of a healing camp/retreat that I took part in a decade ago. There were a dozen of us gathering around a Huichol elder for a week deep in rural Pembrokeshire. He advised us that the healing would come from the land and the tribe we were creating together. We were encouraged to do everything together, avoid spending time alone. And we were advised to not engage with any media. No phones, no writing, no reading no radio, no TV. Drawing, sketching, painting, collaging were OK. As were singing, story telling, drumming and dancing. On reflection, I think that we were being encouraged to focus our attention towards each other, to attend to the quality of our relationships rather than external influences. It was a beautiful time. I made friends that remain close to this day. Midway through the week, a member of the tribe needed to go to the nearest town to get to a post office. I offered to give them a lift. I remember vividly the shock to my nervous system that both of us felt when we arrived in town. I felt physically assaulted by the tsunami of sensory information that simply walking down a small town high street brought crashing down on me. I couldn't wait to get back to our little tribe in the woods. I was amazed by how quickly my body had habituated to this gentler way of being. It had only taken three or four days for my body to relax away from its addiction to media stimulation, supported by the care of other people with similar intent.