Steering by the Stars

Reproducing an email just sent to a group of global unplug pundits, like David Levy, Mark Bittman, Peter Pruyn, Leif Hansen and Ariel Meadow.

Posting it here to open up the discussion.

Join in and help take it forward?

At a bare minimum, everyone in the world needs to read Peter’s article continuous-partial-attention-02-08.pdf.

“It is time we steered by the stars, not by the lights of each passing ship.”

Omar Bradley (1948) in Peter Pruyn (2007)

Seriously.

………………….

Dear unpluggers

Thanks for being in touch and many thanks to Mark Bittman for bringing us together, for me anyway.

Peter Pruyn’s paper is also excellent! See attached. A must read for unpluggers. Really puts the meta-ness of it all together.

David Levy has been in touch – his paper “No Time to Think” can be found, among others, on his site here.

52 Nights Unplugged is growing thanks to Ariel and the community.

We are making the domain www.everywhereisnowhere.com available to whoever wants to move the unplug meme out into the world. Synchronously the woman who coined the phrase “Constant Partial Attention”, Linda Stone, also said “We [are] everwhere except where we actually [are] physically” – which is a direct link to the Seneca quote that the domain references. An ancient dilemma.

Also keen for one of us to present at LIFT09 and others to attend as a “movement”. Free bloggers passes available and accommodation can be provided. I guess David or Peter would need to be on the stage to come, but perhaps that will happen. The community votes on who they want to speak, and I will be approaching the organisers directly about the unplug movement. I was asked to attend as a blogger this year. Influential space.. starting to be compared to TED talks.

A book you could all read, if you haven’t already, is “In Praise of Slow”.

Considering the climate emergency and reading in Peter’s paper “It is time that we steered by the stars, not the lights of each passing ship” – I am reminded to bring ecophilosopher Joanna Macy into the discussion. Her writing made it possible for me to attend the LIFT conference without being drained by the Technology as God types.

Tessy’s site http://thrivingtoo.typepad.com/ is another place for the meme to grow, and she is friends with Sir Ken Robinson. See his TED Talk on creativity, which has enormous traction, here.

And now, I am unplugging and hitting the bath – in the garden, with my daughter. Brrr. Spring not quite sprung. But lovely.

Please reply to all if you want to move this agenda forward. In that moment, a group exists. Together we are stronger.

Bestest

Libby

……….

Other posts on unplugging here.

Can you unplug for 52 nights?

I’m going to move the main discussion about unplugging over to the wonderful (ironic) new community at 52 Nights Unplugged care of Ariel and Ning. She is one happening unplugger.

Come and join in.

You know you need to when…

• Your eyes/arms/body is aching from too much tapping / idiot boxing / talking
• You check your email as soon as you wake up and just before you go to bed
• There’s never enough time
• Your mental environment is smogged out with gumpf
• Computers/TV/Radio/Mobiles/Ipods/Games keep taking you away from the here and now

Many thanks to Leif Hansen from Spark NW for the 7 Step Programme to Unplugging. I’ll be referring all my clients/students/friends to it and the Unplug Challenge. Seems only right and proper when we are banging on about the wonders of the Internet on the one hand. Seems people might need a health warning to go with every new social network or application. Seems like we all need to take a break occasionally, or a lot.

No matter how good it all is, it ain’t sustainable.

Actually, we’ve just put together a 7 step e-workbook that takes people through the same process. The steps and exercises covered in the e-workbook are basically to:
(perhaps first identify what you like about your tech life)
1. Identifying your challenges with tech
2. Identify the needs trying to get met
3. Develop your vision/goals
4. Finding your focus
5. Finding solutions
6. Turning ideas into actions
7. Sticking with your plan (can be hardest)

See the full richness of Leif’s comment on the previous post here. Sounds like it could be hard work, but if you want some more reasons and to make it fun… go join 52 Nights. These guys just HAVE to present at LIFT09.

My what a helpful community we are. Sucking you in to more and more information on the one hand – then telling you to switch off with the other.

Reminds me of when we tried to buy airtime for “subvertisements” advertising TV Turn Off Week on major TV networks, only this time we (kind of) control the channel.

I’m off to bed. Now… do I take the laptop with me and catch up on the BBC programmes in iplayer, or not…. might be jut in time to read Bea (7) the last story before lights out.

We teach what we most need to learn…