The September Silence of 2022 is over. With it being a bigger election year, the urge to return at the end of November is appealing…for many reasons. But…there are things I’ve missed this past month, and I can always step back again if things seem too noisy. Another September Silence This year, like last, I […]

The annual social media break is almost done — tomorrow I return to it all. It started years ago when I mentioned I was considering stepping away a bit, which quickly escalated to dares from friends committing me to 101 days off of all social sites. The September tradition continues each year for me, with […]

It’s that time of the year when I step away from all social media for a month. A friend calls it the September Silence, which is now what I call it. September is a month kicking off several things I look forward to: The tenth anniversary of The Juggling Writer. (It’s funny to me that […]

Tomorrow I return to the noise of social media. Every time I take a break, I miss much less than I loathe, but what I miss — I really miss: chatting with friends in other cities, states, and countries; seeing friends share big news; seeing friends sharing little things. (I am not one who comes […]

September will be a busy month for me. Something fairly big at work is due in the middle of the month, and the current novel should be readable by the end of September. So…it’s a good time to go silent online. The September Silence I’ve not taken a September away from social media the past […]

I’ve never taken a social media break like the time I took the 101 day social media break. Hell, I’ve not done a full “September Silence” in a couple years… I’ve thought about doing both in recent days, but something makes it harder each passing year: connectivity. Connections When people talk about the “real world” […]

One of the most difficult things I found to do during my first forays into social media breaks was rewiring the pathways in my brain during quiet moments at work and in life. Get up to make tea at work and check email, social media feeds, and things like that while tea steeps. Picking up […]

My friend Tom Wideman dubbed it the September Silence…at least I think that’s how it got its name. It’s that time of the year when I log out of all social media (not just Facebook) for a month. (And yes, I realize it’s not yet September. And…I may stay away longer…dunno if I’ll beat the […]

A friend posted this on Twitter a couple days ago: Advice for a better life: Never trust someone who calls vacation “vacay” or calls art “content”. #ProTip #ArtLife — John Picacio (@JohnPicacio) July 20, 2016 I’ve been wanting to write this entry for awhile, so if you like it — thank John. If you hate […]

I mentioned that the September social media break was not as much of a break as I planned. October, however, was what I needed in September. I locked out the noise of social media and got a lot of things done. So what did I get done? The things I completed are things I would […]

Early last month, I wrote about The September Silence. I wasn’t as silent as I’ve been in previous breaks… Breaking the Silence There were several times I broke the silence to share something online. I gave a talk about podcasting on September 1 and I thanked some people for attending. Later in the month, I […]

I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. – Henry David Thoreau * * * I’d be lying if I said there isn’t a certain appeal to stepping away from all modern things, walking into the hills, and being silent for the rest of my life. But […]