Open Forum : Fasting From the Virtual, Feasting on the Real
At the beginning of the Lenten season, Peco and I extended an invitation to our readers to join in a “Communal Digital Fast” and shift focus onto feasting on the Real. We compiled a visual guide to “Random Acts of Anachronism”1 and encouraged participants to make use of Simple Acts of Sanity: A Seed Catalogue in preparing for the fast.
We had a tremendous response, with individuals, families, and even whole communities committing to join in this endeavour.
With the passing of Lent2 our “Communal Digital Fast” has come to an end, and Peco and I would like to invite you to share your experiences:
What was your experience?
What practices worked for you? Did you discover any new strategies?
What was your biggest struggle?
What did not work?
Going forward, are you planning on continuing any of your digital fasting practices?
Peco and I will compile your responses into a follow-up post in the coming weeks. There are four ways that you can contribute:
If you have your own Substack, consider writing a post about your experience which we can link in our article. For inspiration see our collection of “Cognitive Liberators of Substack” including posts by
, , , , among others.Add your refelctions in the comments section.
If you prefer to offer your response anonymously, you can send an e-mail message to schooloftheunconformed@proton.me.
If you have photos that you would like to share, please post them to this Note.
Also, if you have already shared some helpful strategies such as the ones below by
and , please send them along!
Last year, when
was just getting started, a smaller group of participants joined in a month-long digital fast. You can read the full article detailing participants’ experiences here:Reawakening to the Freedom of Limits
“Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.” “Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.” G.K. Chesterton Waiting at London Gatwick for my connecting flight to Basel, I look at the row of people across from me. There are ten; seven have their phones …
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You can find the guide in Part II of the post.
For those participants who are Orthodox and still in the middle of Lent, we’d love to hear about your experience so far.
I shared this on a different Substack a while back, so I'll copy here:
I remember reading a while back about a person who, before he went on the internet in any capacity, wrote down on a piece of paper what he was going online for. He'd cross things off like a checklist and then log off.
At that time, I thought it was a little nutty, but in the years since, it's increasingly wise. I don't do it every time, but having a clear sense for why I'm logging on and what I'm logging on to accomplish helps me to remember the technology is supposed to be there as a tool to help me with an intended purpose or task.
I didn’t specifically give up anything for a digital fast. The tech I rely feels too essential for getting through my daily challenges, whether that’s GPS giving me driving directions or podcasts helping me sleep and/or connect with conversations essential to my sanity.
What I did do was spend a lot of time on activities that are not tech-connected, like hand-sewing, crochet, dancing. It was an add in rather than a take-away.