The Digital Hiatus

Being Present in my Winter Wonderland

January began with stark-white days, socked into the clouds. It would be either my sanctuary or a white padded room. I decided to embrace it and take advantage of the opportunity with a digital hiatus. Snowed in on the mountain since November, without social media for the month.

Could I drop it entirely for the first 31 days of the year?

The Why - Being Present

Living in such a quiet place, opening my phone was like opening a book about trains and suddenly having the sound of a locomotive bearing down on me. Once my phone was back in my pocket, the sound still rattled around in my head.

I wanted to be really immersed in my world. While melting snow for water and chopping wood for heat, I wanted to know how I would feel after a month without Instagram, Facebook, Substack, AI, ads, and all of the other stuff that’s found its way into my (our) fingertips and our subconscious.

A Snowy Clean Slate

Though my main goal through January was to stay off of social media, I wanted to also limit the amount of any external influence in my life. I’d gotten to a point where my brain felt congested, overwhelmed and like I could never do enough. Though it’s mostly a positive place for me, I needed to recenter and find my focus and happiness.

Making the Plan

I wanted to disconnect and abandon our cell phones entirely but, Curt has responsibilities and needs to be connected for part of the day, and I love to take pictures. Since our phones use wifi as our only means of communication, figuring out exactly how to go on hiatus was tricky.

We decided that in order to receive calls or texts and watch T.V. we’d turn on the wifi from 4-10 p.m. He deleted his social apps. I tried to resurrect an old point-and-shoot camera, but it was no good. I set my phone to forget the wifi password so that it could no longer connect, but I could still use it as a camera. It would be like being back in the 90’s, with one phone between us and watching videos on a shared T.V. at night.

FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out

Did I wonder what might be happening on the World Wide Web in my absence? Yeah. Definitely.

I went offline and left my social media profiles to the wolves. I thought about how to lock everything down so that things couldn’t happen in my absence but decided to just leave it open and active. Likes, unlikes, comments, follows, unfollows, it would go on without me.

Before going offline, I was in the algorithms’ favour. My profiles were cooking along, gaining followers, subscribers, likes and comments. I decided not to worry about the algorithmic ramifications. For the month of January, who knows what might’ve been going on, as far as I was concerned it didn’t exist.

How The Month Went

Week 1

I found myself lingering when I would usually have grabbed my phone. That quickly passed and I started picking up projects I’ve been meaning to do, and books I’ve been meaning to read. A calm had washed over the mountain and life slowed down.

The things that seemed like inconveniences became priorities to do happily instead of hurriedly. We spent entire mornings reading books and drinking coffee. In the evenings we did stretches, and pushups, and read short stories to each other. I slept the soundest I have in ages, without wifi or its influence coursing through my brain.

Week 2

I had a few very challenging days and found myself craving a distraction (I’ve drafted a post about it and will share it soon). In those moments, I would have loved to have had a cry and sunk into doom-scrolling to numb it out. I’m glad that I didn’t, and I find it interesting - the time I craved it most was as a crutch, as one might do with other vices like drugs, alcohol, or food.

It wasn’t as boring as I’d thought it might be

Week 3

I called my brother, and mid-way through our chat, I realized he was the second person (Curt being the first) I’d spoken to thus far in 2025. I decided to call my parents too and let them know I was okay. I realized I needed to send some emails, so I decided to reconnect my phone at night. Emails and texts, but no social media.

Going through my inbox to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important, (I did, as it turns out) I became aware of the way the titles of emails are meant to be attention-grabbing. It made me very curious about what might be going on in social medialand. The curiosity was hard to shake. After a couple of weeks away, I didn’t like the way it pulled me from my world, and how it made me feel.

My mind wandered, and I wondered how my friends online were doing. The newness of this experience had worn off, and boredom had set in (not a bad type of boredom, though) This was when the real challenge would start.

Week 4

As I thought of things I wanted to google, I’d jot them down in my journal to look up that evening. Not having my attention pulled away by the apps on my phone, I stayed on what I was doing. As I’m writing this offline, I don’t have an editing app using loud popups on top of my text. I’m free to make all of the mistakes I want and stay focused on my point.

For the last week of the month, the skies cleared, temperatures dropped a little more, and colour returned to the world. The bright blue skies made the snow sparkle as if the world was covered in glitter. I missed being socked into my introspective grey land but was excited to embrace the beautiful days with a new outlook.

Logging On

There’s a pivotal moment for ex-smokers when the smell of cigarette smoke goes from a temptation - to disgusting. In a similar way, social media lost its addictive stronghold and became somewhat repulsive. I’d slipped from the algorithm’s favour, and it didn’t matter to me like it would have before.

No wolves came to blow down my house in my absence. Things had carried on fine without me. It was a relief and even kind of underwhelming. The reality of FOMO and the way we’re manipulated into checking on things multiple times throughout the day had become apparent by how little I’d actually missed.

An update happened while I was away, and I needed to re-learn how to navigate. I resented the time and brain space spent figuring it out, like an ex-smoker having second-hand smoke blown in their face. I sent a few messages, watched reels sent by friends and created a couple of ‘I’m back’ posts. I decided I’d set aside time later to look at some of my friends’ pictures. I signed off for the day, and that was it.

Polarization

Websters Dictionary 2024 word of the year: Polarization.

Offline, I’m away from norms, perceptions, and stereotypes that are creating polarization. Telling us what men do, what women do, what other races do, what YOU should do. The polarization that social media creates became really apparent. It favours strong wording, and evocative topics that create drama because it knows that keeps us coming back.

I’m myself again, living quite happily in my own world. Going about my days blissfully unaware of how I’m perceived and what I’m supposed to be or should be doing. I do what interests me without thinking about if I ‘should’ be doing that thing. I forget who ‘I am’ according to the internet and simply do what I want or need.

My Temple - Reorienting

I’d come full circle, from calmness -to craving, and back to more calmness than before. I was tested and got through the hard moments without a crutch. I ended the month feeling triumphant; the stark white world had been a sanctuary from which I emerged into the bright, colourful world refreshed and relaxed.

A familiar sensation was back, something pre-smartphones, and boredom was allowed to be what it was. My mind had quieted, lingering moments were mine to think about whatever I pleased - without anything lurking in the background. Instead of missing the instant dopamine, I missed my friends and looked forward to chatting and catching up.

Social media is always trying to manipulate us, and the digital world isn’t a particularly friendly place. Whether it be scams, ads, political agendas, or trolls, there’s always something trying to make its way into the depths of our minds, putting us on guard and creating polarity. Maybe we can handle the digital barrage, but should we?

It is a place to aid in our social lives but not replace it. Going forward, I’ll be setting boundaries, prioritizing what’s important, and giving myself a half hour per day for social media. That’s 3.5 hours per week, and I think that’ll be enough.

This was a personal experiment, and I didn’t know how it would turn out. Thank you for following in my journey.