I been reading again. Hahah yes. I think I start almost every new post with this news. Hey guys guess what Sanna has been reading.
So here I am thinking about how social media is not really making us social and how our society is the loneliest it has ever been when I stumbled on a book called Silence. It is written by a Norwegian author called Erling Kagge. He is an explorer and over all very Norwegian man. What I mean by that is – he has boat, he goes on hikes and also he seems to like silence. Those are very nordic hobbies. I think most of us appreciate our forests and nature. Feeling very connected with our forest fairies and trolls.
Coming back to the book. Lot of the thoughts and opinions he is writing about have been on my mind for a long time. For example why we keep on scrolling on our Facebook feed or why lot of the apps and social media platforms aim for users to be addicted to those platforms not really having a solution to our loneliness problems. He says that apps aim on having us addicted and for a short period seem to be solutions for our needs. I have to agree with that. Lot of the times I have downloaded apps just to leave them on my phone and after a week never using them and then after a year just deleting them.
He points out that our attention span is almost as short as it is on goldfishes. It used to be more 10 years ago but with the age of technical revolutions and apps on apps on apps our consentraiton has shorten and it’s difficult to just be alone with our thoughts. It’s like an addiction to always be connected but in reality we are just addicted to our apps and devices.
Life is long if you know how to live it, but for people who don’t know how to live, life seems to pass by. Making them a sidekick in their own personal show. It okay to be bored and just stop for a moment. He says that as a child when you were bored time went by very slowly. Now as a grown up be rarely are so bored that we sence the time stopping.
He says that silence and being unreachable are luxurious in our society. I have to agree with him. Have you ever just lost yourself in doing something that you love. While doing your favorite things time looses all the meaning and purpose. For example if you love reading or drawing you can do it for hours and the only indication of your activity is that sometimes our bones and muscles get sore if we are in the same position for too long. Or our eyes start to hurt because we have read until 5 am.
Being unreachable is very freeing. Just delicating urgent stuff to your workers. Getting back to people within a day. Not answering right away. Switching off. I read somewhere that our pets are unhappy because with the age of smart techs we give them less attention.
So I actually switch of my data and go on a walk. Sometimes I even leave my phone home. We just go on walks. Look at the trees and listening to the birds singing. It feels very much like a spring outside eventho it is raining, the birds are singing and flowers are coming into life.
In the book he writes about silence and how people are willing to pay for it. We pay more for silence insulation, a room with an ocean view instead of busy street, silence temples and cars that make less noise. Silent life is becoming precious and expensive. We pay for meditation classes instead of just being silent our own. However silence is free if we find it in ourselves. It’s that moment when you get lost in your headspace while doing dishes or walking in the park or having a shower.
Sometimes the words are unnecessary. Like when being in the nature, on a hike or even shopping. I like to do it in silence. Just looking at things. Trees, plants or dresses. Just listen the silence. Most of the times words are not enough to describe something that’s why also there are nations where they have 50 to 60 words to describe snow.
I highly recommend his book. Its thought provoking.
Silence is a mystery. It has something magical. Sometimes it feels out of reach and sometimes it is right there. If only you can reach that far.
welcome to my life 