Thoughts for the New Year

[osprey_archer]

My New Year’s Resolution for 2024 was to read fewer books, and to read them in the spirit of true leisure, rather than with a despairing eye on my to-read list which somehow only seemed to grow longer the more books that I finished.

I am happy to say that I achieved success! Not only did I read fewer books this year, but I have high hopes that the numbers will be lower still next year, in part because I haven’t signed up for any more Dracula Daily inspired “read the Sherlock Holmes/Raffles/Jeeves & Wooster short stories!” substacks. The email format worked great for me when I was working at the library, where I had plenty of time to read at the desk, but this year I was constantly falling behind.

Given that I exchanged a part-time job where I had hours to read at the desk for a full-time job where I rarely have time to read at all, you might expect a large difference between the number of books in 2023 and 2024, but in fact the change has been relatively modest, largely because when I moved into my own place I decided not to get internet.

I love it! Now that I’m not spending hours each day spinning my wheels on various websites (over the years, my poisons of choice have included Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr…), I have so much time! I’m enjoying my reading more, I’ve picked up new hobbies (dulcimer, D&D), and when I sit down to write, I actually write, instead of “writing” for three hours but half an hour in I decide to look up some detail, and then since I’m online anyway might as well check my email, and look at these new DW comments I need to answer, and why not just check Twitter, and why have I gotten so little done in this three hour writing session???

Dreamwidth is the only social media site on which I’m still active, which is good for my peace of mind but perhaps not my writing career. Deck the Halls with Secret Agents didn’t do badly, but I bet it would have done better if I were more active on Bluesky. And Bluesky has not yet started to induce the “that’s an hour of my life I’m never getting back” feeling that I get from Facebook and Twitter, presumably because it’s still showing me posts from people I’m actually following rather than random ads. So I may try to be a bit more active there in 2025.

I do miss being able to watch things at home, but I have sourced a dumb TV from a friend, so once I get a DVD player I’ll be good to go.

Now that I’m getting a new place with a guest bedroom and therefore, presumably, more guests, I am a little concerned how said guests will feel about this internet-less existence, but hopefully being able to watch something on a TV (albeit with choices limited by the available DVDs) will soothe their troubled souls.

At some point the exigencies of modern society may force me to get internet, and that point will probably be when my parents grow too frail for me to call them up and say, “Hey, I’ve been gifted a month-long subscription to National Theater at Home, can I come over to your house to watch Romeo and Juliet in the guest bedroom?” (Or “I have the sniffles, can I work remotely in the guest bedroom rather than going into the office?”) But for now I’m quite happy leaving the internet at work.

***

My goal for 2025: I’m going to have a garden! I plan to plant a small herb garden, basil and chives and thyme and rosemary. Also cherry tomatoes and blueberry bushes and raspberry canes, which will probably between them fill my relatively small garden space. Also I’d like to have a compost pile, but I’ll need to do some research first. Because of the aforementioned small size of the garden, it will perforce be near the patio, so I’d like it not to smell too badly, as otherwise it would not be pleasant to sit on the patio gazing out at the pond in the lowering dusk.

Comments

[sholio]

The internet thing!! I rented an Airbnb this spring that didn't have internet and was additionally in the relative middle of nowhere so I would've had to drive about 8 miles to get cafe internet, and while on the one hand I ran through nearly my phone's entire 3 Gb data cap in three days hotspotting my computer, I also felt like I had SO MUCH TIME, and so much mental peace; it was exactly what I hoped for, and it was only three days.

I can't do it at home because both my husband and I need internet at home for work (also, legitimately, it's been such a huge part of my leisure time since the late 90s that I can't really imagine giving it up completely), but it is just SO easy for it to completely consume your life and become the thing you do when you wake up and before you go to bed and all points in between. I'm definitely planning to cut back and use it more wisely and thoughtfully in 2025, although we'll see how this goes.

And good luck with the garden! I compost, so when you get there, if you like, I can offer some advice on keeping it non-smelly. (The classic advice is that a well-maintained compost pile doesn't smell, and this is sort of true but also, in reality, sort of not true. But there are ways you can keep it less smelly, such as by precomposting in a bin before you put it out in the garden, avoiding things like onions that tend to decay with a lot of aromatics, and tilting the browns-to-greens ratio more heavily towards browns.)

[osprey_archer]

Yes, there's just a sense of mental space when the internet isn't there clamoring for attention. Enough time to actually chew over the information you receive instead of having no choice but to let it flood over you. Will you remember any of it? Is it even accurate? Who cares! More incoming!

I don't think I'd want to give up the internet entirely, as witness my continued DW posting. But it's been very helpful to me to have limited time on the internet so I need to think carefully about how I want to use it.

There will DEFINITELY be more garden posts as I beg the seasoned gardeners on my list for garden advice.

[asakiyume]

Wow, I admire your internet decision. Like sholio, I need the internet for work, and also to contact my kids in Japan. But I've been finding myself frustrated with time frittered away on the internet with nothing really to show for it, not even entertainment, so I've been thinking of cutting down (always feels like a very watered down resolution, but eh!

Your garden plans sound marvelous!

[osprey_archer]

I've found it works better to be a bit more specific with resolutions than just cutting down. (I say this from long experience of resolving to cut down on sugary treats. Impossible to tell if this is working when it's so non-specific.) Like, "I will stop using (some website that seems particularly corrosive to my mental health)" (thanks Elon Musk for making Twitter unusable and therefore taking care of that for me?) or "I will turn off all devices at 9", or whatever.

Excited about the garden! My own cherry tomatoes picked sun-warm from the vine...

[asakiyume]

Indeed: vague statements don't work well. I'm leaning toward time limits on browsing (have not picked a time or thought how or if I'll vary it across social media, nor details/exceptions--i.e., there's a difference between "I'll take a look at [type of social media]" and "I'll post on [type of social media]," and passively scrolling is different from engaging in a conversation--but too elaborate a set of rules is also bound for failure, so I'll probably keep it simple).

[osprey_archer]

Yeah, the passive scrolling is the real problem point for me. Posting and responding to posts are both engaging in conversation, so I consider them time well spent, but sometimes I finish all of that and then just scroll... or repeatedly refresh... and it makes me feel bad! Why do I do it if it's not even fun! Go engage in life-enhancing activities like "snuggling Bramble" or "admiring the way the branches look against the sky," self.

[philomytha]

That's an excellent reading resolution! And your no-internet house is honestly an inspiration, congratulations.

If you can get a dvd-by-post subscription service it's a great way to watch loads of interesting stuff, they tend to have all the old obscure things. You do need to manage it online, but the way mine works, you set up a list of dozens of things you want to watch and it sends them out one by one, I love it.

[osprey_archer]

Are there still DVD-by-post subscriptions? I LOVED my Netflix subscription back when they did DVD by post, but now they don't anymore, and it's truly tragic. They had all the obscure stuff! And it's either not streaming anywhere or streaming on yet another obscure streaming service and I simply refuse to collect streaming services.

[philomytha]

Around here there's Cinema Paradiso which is what I use, might be worth a look to see if there's anything available for you... as you say, they have all the old obscure stuff. The only problem is that some recenter streaming shows never seem to get DVDs or don't license their DVDs for rental like this, so you can't get many things made in the past few years.

[osprey_archer]

I think that's just UK (I'll look into it more thoroughly once I've actually set up my DVD watching station), but I'll see if there's a similar US-based service. If not, the library still has a pretty good selection, and it will stay long if people like me keep using it.

Fortunately I'm only into a couple more recent shows right now, and they're both things I'm watching with friends, so I can catch those shows on their streaming services when I visit. So annoying when recent shows don't get DVDs though! I'd love DVDs of Derry Girls.

[littlerhymes]

So admiring of your resolve in keeping your home internet-less!

The garden sounds like a great plan. Please continue to update!

[osprey_archer]

TBH the only time this has required resolve was during the last month when I've had this National Theater subscription. "Think how many more plays you could be watching" whispered Mephistopheles... however I think I'm actually pretty much maxed out on the number of plays I can watch as it is, so I have conked Mephistopheles on the head.

Hoping to plant native flowers in front to attract bumblebees/butterflies/hummingbirds. They're easier to care for, too, since they're adapted to the climate.

[edwardianspinsteraunt]

Honestly, the idea of a no-internet home sounds absolutely fantastic, and if I were a house guest in such a place, I wouldn't be complaining at all! I still have wifi in my flat, but I think I'm getting better at not losing hours of my life to social media/pointless browsing. (I exile my phone into a drawer when I'm not using it to communicate with friends, and my laptop similarly gets stuffed into a case - but there's less temptation with that because starting it up and logging on is a bit more of a Process and therefore something you have to decide to do consciously rather than mindlessly.)

[osprey_archer]

I believe the key to getting guests on board with the no-internet home is to provide alternative options for downtime. A TV with DVD player should help, and perhaps I should also get a few jigsaw puzzles and simple board games.

I'm contemplating putting a Phone Basket by the door where guests are invited to leave their cell phones. They can still check their phones! If they want to go stand by the phone basket to do so, that is.

[lucymonster]

when I moved into my own place I decided not to get internet.

Oh my goodness, I LOVE this!!! How fucking inspiring. Hours upon hours upon hours of my life get poured down worthless internet sinkholes, and I just don’t seem to be able to stop myself. Maybe I should try something similarly drastic. The chances of my husband consenting to turning off the internet are less than nil, but maybe I could downgrade my phone plan and lose the wifi password - almost all my doomscrolling happens on mobile, so without my own data allowance, it would be the next best thing to a total blackout.

Your garden plans sound so exciting. I remember hearing something about how to manage the smell of compost - it’s something about the ratio of green to brown matter? I doubt there’s anything you can do to make a pile pleasingly fragrant, but controlling the smell enough that you don’t mind having it near your patio may well be doable.

[osprey_archer]

It'd designed to be addictive! Like cigarette companies purposefully upping the nicotine content in cigarettes! Which is helpful to know sometimes but NOT helpful in actually stopping oneself from falling into sinkholes...

Your plan to downgrade your phone plan and lose the wifi password sounds workable, though.

Yes, apparently the browns (whatever they are) need to outweigh the greens. Will have to look into the composting lingo in more detail to work out how to achieve this happy state.

[silverusagi]

I remember when I didn't have the internet at my house (or had it where I could only use it between certain hours because of TLDR reasons) and it makes a HUGE difference on how you spend your time. I definitely got a lot more reading and writing done then. (Well, I got a lot of reading done this year, but compared to other years, I feel I was more productive without the internet.) Of course, that was also when I lived alone, which is probably another factor in productivity, at least for me.

[osprey_archer]

Yes, no internet really opens up a lot of other ways to spend your time, which I really like. I'm not necessarily using it more productively in the productivity hack sense, but even if I'm just taking 15 minutes to cuddle my cat, that makes me happier than spending fifteen minutes scrolling twitter, even though neither one is "productive."

[lokifan]

Oh wow, interesting! I can't imagine going without the internet myself but I totally see what you mean about time.

The garden sounds gorgeous!

[osprey_archer]

Well, I still have internet at work, so it's not so much going without the internet as going with less internet.

I have high hopes for the garden! We shall see if the work of my hands can realize the dreams of my mind.