My Journey to a More Analog Life!

Hello, and thank you for reading my first ever blog post!

If you need to know anything about me, it is that I am a very nostalgic person. I think about the past a lot because it brings me a form a comfort that the modern day unfortunately is lacking. My fondest childhood memories are from the late 2000s and early 2010s, which is the bulk of my nostalgia.

2017 was the year that I started to really reminisce on the past. However, this was before anything "analog" was trendy. I was entering my late teenage years and really started to realize how sucked into the digital world I have become. Instead of hanging out with friends in third spaces, I primarily "hung out" through video games, Skype calls, and social media. I wanted to make a change, however, everyone else was "hanging out" this way.

That was until 2020 when the world locked down. I was online 24/7 and started to feel only more miserable as the fearmongering progressed. I finally made the drastic decision to delete my Instagram account. I got sick of the noise and wanted some peace in those scary times. It was the first time ever where I deleted a social media account and the first time I felt free since my fondest childhood era. I started monitoring how modern social platforms made me feel, so I deleted more: Snapchat in 2022, Facebook in 2023, and Discord this year. After removing myself from those digital chains, I no longer feel like a prisoner.

But this post is not all about social media. I needed things to replace my digital habits, and that is where my journey continues. In 2023, I started picking up physical books again. I know! Crazy! I was such a reader as a child but lost the passion as social media took over my free time. I decided to read something that I was alive for the release of but never engaged with, and that was the Twilight Saga. Sparkly vampires from the 2000s brought back that lost passion (Team Jacob, btw)! Then, in 2024, I deleted my Spotify account and switched to a refurbished iPod mini. I also started to collect CDs that same year, and it feels wonderful to know that streaming companies cannot take away the music I paid for with my hard-earned money.

In the current year, I have taken more drastic steps. I completely blocked access to an internet browser on my phone about a month ago, and I started taking a YouTube, Reddit and TikTok "fast" since the beginning of this month. I use Cold Turkey to block these sites, and since I set it where I cannot uninstall the software, it has been nearly impossible to undo my progress. Since you do not need an account to access content on the web versions of these social media platforms, it was very easy for me to waste my time on them. I also gravitated to this website as an alternative since it is not nearly as addicting!

I am working to find a balance between using the internet as a tool and entertainment. My methods have not been fully fleshed out yet, so I am working on finding alternatives. For example, I will watch a documentary as a reward at the end of the week instead of mindlessly watching YouTube videos. I also have learned to be more okay with boredom and started daydreaming like a child again! If people are interested in seeing my journey progress, I will be happy to provide updates! Hopefully this inspired at least one person to start critically analyzing their social media usage and find ways to break free and start enjoying life again!