I am back from 45 offline hours on the weekend.
Two 35 mm films have been sent off to the development studio and I am anxiously waiting for the prints and scans to come back. I truly enjoyed the analog photography which included figuring out some of the equipment (picture, real pictures follow when I get them).
In order to get the full experience, I didn't just go into flight mode but left the phone at home altogether. The car GPS pointed to a rather remote location and I reached the house at 8:30 pm on Friday. The road had turned into a tiny path covered by snow and ice and I had to switch the car to extended ground clearance. When I arrived at the destination (at 6000 ft alt) the house was dark and empty. Without a phone, the choices were to either wait and trust the instructions or drive back. That reminded me of some dates in pre-phone times ;-).
The weekend was fantastic. We played music, went for a snowshoe walk, got to know each other better, cooked, chilled. All of us were fully present with zero virtual interruptions. I was grateful to have shared the weekend with offliners.
I did not really miss the phone or the internet. I attribute this partially to the fact that my life is currently free from any sort of crisis.
One of my friends said that the missing phone felt like a phantom limb. He would reach out for it just realizing once more that there was nothing. And there is this amazing experience shared by Aurelie: I was expecting it to be so hard, but... it was so easy! The time flew by.
I will continue to follow the movement on reddit.
I have imagined the experience and it sounds relaxing, I should take it as an example and have free day away from my phone and laptop especially with the great advantage that I have possible destinations very close to home. I hadn't thought about it until I read this, thank you so much for sharing <3
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The awesome thing about "analog photography" is the "delayed gratification" that you get as you wait for the films to be developed. I have a different attitude in shooting when using analog compared to a digital camera. I guess it could be used as a metaphor to your 45-hour offline weekend experience.
When in analog photography, we tend to slow down and immerse ourselves into the subject. Like your experience, you had more time to get to know the other offliners and had a great time. Contrary to digital photography, we tend to fast track the activity, burst the shots and never really appreciate the subject & the time we spent on it.
You sharing your experience is wonderful as I never thought that something like this is possible. Thank you :)
P.S.
Can't wait to see the results :)
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I have a friend who is a mechanical engineer, he has worked all his career in the oil field. He is brilliant, a genius ... literally.
He is the most intelligent person I have ever met. To give you an idea, once I saw him explaining by telephone to his university daughter how to solve a mathematical equation of integrals, functions and limits to infinity. He solved the equation mentally, without using a pen or paper.
He is also a person addicted to technology. Your phone has become an extension of your body.
Once, his wife surprised him with a weekend trip together to some cabins in the mountains. But she did not say anything to him: in that place there is no telephone coverage, nor television, nor internet.
The despair was such that they had to interrupt the stay. He could not stand it.
I am a supporter of making spiritual retreats eventually. This connects us with ourselves and with God.
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Wow - this is quite a story. I am sure your friend has his reasons, perhaps he was right in the middle of some important communication processes and could not properly prepare for being offline. Its definitely easier when announced and prepared.
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Greetings friend @mariusfebruary.
That trip was his wife's idea. She thought that he could disconnect for a couple of days and relax. But the technological dependence was more powerful.
I particularly love those opportunities. I have gone hiking in the mountains and I have been able to appreciate the "total silence". The first time I was silent it was disturbing, I could not commune with this. Then I managed to assimilate that peace. Playing my guitar there is a sublime experience.
Currently where I live in the city, there is a sonic pollution that is reaching levels that threaten health. For example, when I'm going to create my music, I have to do it in the early hours when there is less vehicular traffic.
In summary, it will always be beneficial to be in contact with nature away from so much electronic device. It's like going back to the roots.
A hug for you.
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You went 45 hours offline... This is unheard of! Haha! Glad it was good to disconnect but like this kid... Some scepticism 🤣
Just kidding. I will hopefully be disconnecting for a while out in NZ later next month! Be good to recharge
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Congratulations on achieving this feat!
I think most of us would really embrace such an opportunity to go off grid for a few days and get back to nature and the simple things in life.
I especially like the part when you say...
"I did not really miss the phone or the internet. I attribute this partially to the fact that my life is currently free from any sort of crisis."
It's weird, but true, we sometimes create our own crisis and stresses whilst blogging, networking and hustling (as a musician) and cannot live without the technology that we have at our fingertips!
I'm sure my music friends @d-vine @nickyhavey @onemedia would concur with this too.
Anyway @mariusfebruary I'd like to speak for us collectively in the music community, and thank you kindly for your ongoing support for us all.
It's very much appreciated in this current bear climate.
Have a great weekend whatever you may be doing.
DC 🎼
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Thank you, Darren.
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Completely agree with every thing you said here @darrenclaxton!
We all need to hit system reset from time to time and I am sure our followers would even understand that.
I'd also like to echo your sentiment of gratitude to Marius for the generous delegations to the music community on steem. Thanks big man!
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@mariusfebruary
Hello dear sir how are you?I hope you are well and healthy together your family. Have wonderful day dear.
First of all I have missed you.You are busy man I know. But your post I always looks.so I will try to make best relationship with you. I am so little from you like your son.I am 18 years old.I am student and I want to build up on steemit.Steemit is a great place for my continue studying.It is my dream and I spend my playing time so that I am continuing study rightly.
And At last recently you have leave this post discretion really fantastic.Your journey ,walk ,music, analog photography,and reached at home everything writing so beautiful and unique.You are a great bloger
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Saying that you will be "Offline" for some time to "connect" and dedicate your attention completely to someone else is a romantic idea that I have of this fact. Apply to family and friends, to loved ones, and as Juan mentioned in his commentary, to connect with God, everything is possible when you decide to have some "Offline" days, right? Greetings, many blessings.
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Have you been busy in any work for 2 days?
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I was not busy in the sense that I did actual work other than discussing strategies. However, we have been very active cooking, playing music, listening to vinyl records. And we have been discussing tons of topics, one "evening" till 3 in the morning.
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It was very enjoyable.Am I right?
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Ohh. I live in Bangladesh.
Which country do you live in?
wow You love to cook. I love to cook and love to play.
Are you a music director?
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135 mm films and weekend with no cellphone is like and "adventure in the past"... 🤣
Ab und zu ist das aber nötig!
EDIT.
I hope to see you soon playing guitar again.
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Hi, @mariusfebruary. How are you?
First of all... Nice post! Your experience seems to have been great! :)
So, I've saw you like photography and I just wrote a post about a great book that explains a little of this world.
Here it is (if it interests you to read it): https://steemit.com/biblioteca/@wiseagent/biblioteca-read-this-if-you-want-to-take-great-photographs-or-leia-isto-se-quiser-tirar-fotos-incriveis-2014.
It was written in Portuguese, but you can translate (if you don't understand the language... 'Cause I'm Brazilian).
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Great Idea, technology is like a drug.... so it's good to take a break sometimes :-D
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@mariusfebruary, Having pleasant time away from the Technological Tools is great experience because it makes us really lite and free. And when we hold phone in our hands then one or other aspect push us to engage with the phone. Nowadays snow is becoming obstacles at many places and in recent times snow fall occurred where never happened ever. Stay blessed and enjoy your time ahead.
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You are welcome back online @mariusfebruary. It is good to take a break online sometimes because it helps keep you in touch with nature.
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People tend to stay busy in life, but people get happiness in the midst of hundreds of times. Best of luck to you... My dear friend @mariusfebruary ..💕💞
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I went insane during my 24 hrs train journey ...due to staying away from Steem. How did you feel in those 45 hrs. Obviously getting busy with films won't make you miss it much
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I felt great. But also, I was not alone, we were eight people who were all offline. In fact, I was invited by the organizers of the OfflineDay to join them for the retreat. So we had plenty of stuff to discuss. I even scribbled some of that into my notebook.
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That sounds better...getting engaged and discussing some productive stuffs is always fruitful. Rather than like me....I was totally mad when travelling alone. And not engaging into political talk.....of fellow passengers.
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Excuses what are you doing?Really I didn't know
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Truth is we do not really miss the internet or phones expecially when you're engage in something amazing as photography really, 45 hours is huge but the fact that you had fun is paramount
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I think the key is being busy with something other than tech. If you have a great life with real life people, then the withdrawal won't be as bad. The last time I was forced to not have a phone was when mine sustained water damage. Since I was with family that I hadn't seen for 3 years, I was very busy with them. I only missed the phone camera at that point.
I'm also looking forward to your Leica snaps :)
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Oh wow, that sounds like an amazing weekend, something I wish for!
Best wishes from Germany dear Marius :)
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I have thought about going back an old Nokia phone quite a few times and just have the phone calls and messaging experience and no internet at all but I realize I am into too many to not have a smartphone anymore. It's Steem, whatsapp, some casual google searches, emails and more( no Facebook and Instagram). I am willing to transform my smartphone into a phone only and not a media device that much though. I can imagine though how was your experience and I instantly remember the "time feeling" I had in childhood when every minute outside counted and TV was the last option to spend my time. Sometimes I even think of living in such a place where I would definitely not need a smartphone and internet connection. Simply because while offline I can say that one can fully experiment living in the present moment and being fully conscious of every act he does. I guess you will probably upload some pics as well from there although they're not digital. CamScan is a handy app for such things if you don't have other option and wish to share them on Steem.
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Glad you enjoyed your offline weekend. Sounds great.
My screen time for the cell-phone is almost 2 hours, daily. Trying to lower it for a couple of weeks.1/12 of my life shouldn't be spent
on the phone.
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1/12 sounds like a lot but IMHO it depends on how it is spent. I use to read some junk news (very much comparable to junk food). I got rid of apps that mainly served this type of news. And I have stopped reading the Swiss "national newspaper", the Tagesanzeiger which I have read for thirty years because, sadly, there was less and less content that truly affected my life. Also I much prefer Steem over Twitter. The twitter format to me is like an unhealthy snack whereas a well-written Steem post (and some Medium posts) feel more like a real meal.
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I truly think it something that should be done in schools.
Once every 2 weeks!
Here in South Africa the electricity cuts off frequently so everyone is pretty used to have no electricity, no internet, no data, lighting up a candle and tell stories.
Look forward to see the pics, don't hesitate DM on discord if you see I don't react hahaha I am at work even the weekend right now
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Hey.. thanks for ur generous vote on my post "cardio conditioning". Really appreciate it.
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Being passionate towards your work is what takes your work stand out from the rest. Good luck with all your projects. Glad I visited here
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Great post @mariusfebruary. On the one hand, 45 offline hours sounds like a rather short span of time, but I can imagine how hard experience can it be. A few years ago, two weeks of being offline (without any access to the phone) was rather easy for me, but nowadays I can't imagine such challenge. It is probably because my phone controls plenty of things, I have my money there (most in crypto ;) ), navigation, Steem, access to the knowledge and many many more.
However, I can imagine how relaxing such experience can be and I think everyone should try for at least couple of days. Many of us rapidly need such therapy :)
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Thank you so much for participating in the Partiko Delegation Plan Round 1! We really appreciate your support! As part of the delegation benefits, we just gave you a 3.74% upvote! Together, let’s change the world!
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Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq
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Hello please upvoted my post
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I can't imagine my life without steem now, I'm posting almost everyday for almost 1 year and 9 months. You can say I'm addicted to it. Even my wife is tired to see me always steeming. lol Nice to see you creating content from time to tiem. ☺
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To be offline, you really have to get rid of all seduction and find a place where there is no internet connection or, as you did, leave the phone and other devices at home. I have also noticed myself that, as far as there is an Internet connection, I still have the feeling in being with other people that I want to return to something important later and that this urge in the background of my existence already influences the quality of social interaction. Even if this is not yet a real appearance of addiction, the description of a phantom pain is quite accurate. It is difficult to admit this to oneself. Sometimes you wish that higher powers would free you from the grid from time to time and "force" you to get rid of all of it. But self-discipline is probably the best of all actions.
It's interesting that you say that you didn't miss your phone because you're crisis-free right now. Does this mean that in times of crisis you seek comfort while surfing or in things online that help you get over a crisis? ...What if I think about it more carefully, is probably a habit that we modern people have accepted. But I often ask myself whether it is not the online life that causes such crises in the first place. I'm a bit ambivalent and as always I come to the conclusion that everything that the online world serves you with sweets is just as sour. You never have one without the other.
I thank you for this report, because it gives me insight about a stranger and yet reveals so many similarities. In which part of the world do you live?
edit: I just saw that you say "Switzerland" "Italy" in your header. So we are not far from each other.
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Dear @mariusfebruary
Having a day or two fully off-line can be very refreshing. I feel like day without "being connected" can allow us to rest way more than entire week on holiday with our smartphones following us everywhere.
Cheers
Piotr
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