Chris J Wilson

Tl;dr. I’m taking the month off social media but will continue blogging.

A couple of weeks ago I was reminded of the idea of a solitude break; a day, weekend or weekend away from everything spent in solitude and silence. It’s a Christian idea I found in celebration of discipline with the purpose of connecting and listening to God but I’m sure atheist and agnostic friends can see value for themselves in this kind of activity.

I approached my wife with the idea, suggesting that she too could and should take a weekend in solitude at some point. I was even happy for her to do so first and I was okay if she said no. She said it was a great idea and pointed to next weekend (10-11th of July) as the best time.

I got excited about the idea and started rereading a few books I’ve read on similar topics.

Then today I felt rushed and thin from work. I could feel the pressure of our deadlines falling ahead of me and my mind skipping from idea to idea. Fortunately, I recognized the impulse, acknowledged the legitimate deadlines and that certain deadlines weren’t real.

I calmed down.

But an itch stayed with me.

The idea that I don’t need to run or be so frantic. That this is not normal and is negative. That the constant always on communication is part of the cause.

I suddenly thought I should take a month of social media and that as today is the first of the month, today is a great day to start.

So no more logging on to social media for me for July. I can blog and I may have some automatic messages shared but I probably won’t respond to comments on social.

If you have one of my email address, you can contact me via it and I’ll respond. Perhaps I’ll respond to many comments when I come back on social media. Maybe I won’t be back on social media.

I guess we’ll see.

Me: I refuse to use an AI tool because people are better.

Months later

Me: Urgh! This project has taken so much longer than I thought it would! My brain: You know, maybe you could use that AI tool as a helping hand rather than a replacement and it might save you half the time you’ve spent on this project…that would be incredibly valuable, right.
Me: I’M SIGNING UP!

This was a real thought exchange in my head and the outcome. I’ve just signed up to try a new tool. Maybe it won’t work at all, but maybe it will help.

I’ll let you know.

🔗 On Logos Daily (Podcast #325) - ChurchMag

Blessing and I spoke with the guys behind logos daily to discuss the no. 1 Bible study software and how users can get the most out of it.

I really enjoyed this chat with Jason and Ryland and I’m really glad Blessing cut out my terrible attempt at an American accent.

(P.S. I’m going to start sharing more appearances and similar.)

“Oh! The WWDC keynote has started?!? How did that skip me by?”

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t watch a wwdc keynote. The annual tradition of waiting for the -papal- corporate decrees of this year’s bug fixes and new features across Apple’s product lines had become a mini ritual for me. But this year was different. It’s not that I dislike my Apple devices and their software; far from it! In fact, that may be the reason for my absence. Unlike in past years where I had clear wishes for iPad improvements, this year I am satisfied with my setup. It gets work done and let’s me relax. The new features I’ve seen sound like they will bring some improvement in both areas but I could have happy continued with my current setup. Of course, I’m sure I’ll jump on the beta train at some point but I’m in no hurry like I was with iOS 8, or 9, or 10!

I’ve been skipping my reps.

No, not weightlifting or machines at the gym, hand lettering and calligraphy. A couple of years back I discovered calligraphy was a fantastic way to deal with the stress and overthinking I was struggling with. The intense focus it required help me block out the world and just engage with a task.

At a point in my life when I was really struggling with purpose, calligraphy helped me just create. It also had the benefit of making my sketchnotes a smidge more beautiful.

Well after half a year or so life started getting in the way and I stopped doing my regular practice.

Fast-forward to today and I rarely do a calligraphy practice or try to copy a hand lettering design (they are not the same thing by the way). Instead I tend to jump in to trying to make my own original design or sketchnote. While there’s nothing wrong with either activity, I haven’t improved and have possibly even gone backwards a bit.

It’s like a football player who doesn’t spend time doing their drills but just plays practice games. Sure, they’ll get better at some aspects but they would improve more with some drills too.

So I’ve found some old hand lettering designs and I’m going to do some practice again.

I took a screenshot to show some changed that haven’t been made. I was going to edit in preview but then saw an iPad icon…WAIT! I can draw! So I highlighted and wrote on my iPad what needed changing. Then sent from my Mac in our chat app. Apple certainly has issues and is pricy but examples like this are the combination of hardware and software working so well together that Apple loves to boast about. I’m definitely going to use this feature a lot more!

As I was thinking about how to manage publishing obsidian notes to my digital garden, I was saying I wanted a “simpler” solution. That was partially true. Really, I wanted a simpler solution for me, the user, even if it meant a more complicated backend. The danger is that complicated workflows are easier to break.

This is true of other areas of life too. We try to make things “simpler” for ourselves but under the surface there is a sea of (hopefully) hidden complexity.

The danger, is those dependencies will fail and our system comes crashing down or grinds to a halt like a shipping cannel clogged by a boat. Simple solutions may end up needing more maintenance than the “complicated” option.

So perhaps a simple drag and drop isn’t the worst thing in the world after all.