48 Comments

Ahhhhh, farewell to the magnet of a screen, Sharron. Bye bye thought control, hello real life! These two have GOT this. ⚡️😊🔌

Expand full comment
author

Yes. The thought control, the ads, the influencers. They are done with it. These two have definitely made a choice and I imagine it may work for them. I would take a basic flip phone and maybe a radio if I were them?

Expand full comment

You can't beat radio! I grew up listening to spoken word radio, and I still absolutely love it. 📻

Expand full comment

Quite ironic that I read this on my phone! Have to say I feel a twang of envy 😃

Expand full comment

This was literally going to be my comment 😁 You stole my thunder ⛈️

Expand full comment
author

Irony intended. Terry. Some of it you need. Some of it is a time waster. Your choice, thank heaven!

Expand full comment

Can it be done?🤔

Expand full comment
author

I think much of our involvement is by free choice. I, for example, choose not to have a smart phone or tv or blue tooth or ipod or fit bit or social media, etc etc and am virtually never inconvenienced. But I do have a small flip phone for emergencies and a laptop for my work and mail. Suits MY life, but few others. It is just a personal choice.

Expand full comment
deletedOct 6, 2023Liked by Sharron Bassano
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Me? Wise? I better write that down. And, now I am curious - on which Island would that farmhouse be, Amie?

Expand full comment

This was SO good. It says so much in so few words. A piece of me wants to go with them.

Expand full comment
author

You could if you want to, Kristi. You may hate it, but then we can do whatever we want. So far.

Expand full comment

I did go, once not long ago. Completely disconnected and cut off. It was glorious!

https://open.substack.com/pub/wildhoodwanted/p/solo-travel-to-canadian-rockies?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2qffbg

Expand full comment
author

I loved the isolation, the disconnect, the starry sky, the bath tub, the dog. The snow, and the cost, not so much. Beautiful trip. Beautiful writing. Thanks for sharing.

Expand full comment

Lol the snow wasn't bad. It was the -30 part that killed it 😁

Expand full comment
author

For something COMPLETELY opposite, check out Caballo Loco Ranch. Hot, dry, desert primitive, ridiculously cheap, excellent social life - ha ha ha. Watch the little video. No, I have never been there, but, you know, someday.... http://www.caballolocoranch.com/

Expand full comment

Holy smokes, if that wasn't Arizona I'd sell everything and go live there! I sooooo wish someone in my end of Canada would set something like this up. Dirt cheap!

Expand full comment
Oct 4, 2023Liked by Sharron Bassano

I literally got nervous for them when I realized what they were doing, saying to myself, "but what if they need to... (fill in the blank.)"

Can't they at least take a flip phone and a Kodak Instamatic on their trip?

Expand full comment
author

Hah! They can take whatever they want, Jim! ( I would surely take my flip phone and a PILE of books.) They can always recant - re-decide! Or maybe they will find they are less anxious, more peaceful somewhere in the real world. Who knows?

Expand full comment

Reading on my iPad.... how else would I? It is good that good things are available to us through the electronics. It is up to us to choose what we actually see.

Expand full comment
author

I agree. We can be captured 24 hours a day or only three or four. How much captivity to devices do we choose? Not many are wiling to give up anything.

Expand full comment

I am truly envious of them, creativity starts with pen or pencils and paper - where will they get to?

Expand full comment
author

Who knows? They may find it harder to sustain than they thought.

Expand full comment

I am torn! I rely on my electronic devices, and yet, when I was in Haines Alaska a few weeks ago, the residents seemed to be doing just fine without them. They seemed more connected to other people and nature - that seemed very peaceful.

Expand full comment
author

I understand. Luckily, you can choose, Janice!

Expand full comment

Something a bit ironic about reading this. LOL

Expand full comment
author

Yes. Absolutely intended! Thank you Patricia! Welcome to 🍁Leaves!

Expand full comment

Nice, Sharron. And I love the images you pair with this.

Expand full comment
author

Thank you!

Expand full comment

Well done, Sharron! And good for them. I like that they are also moving away. - I don't want to quit completely but I've cut back considerably on my "screen time".

Expand full comment
author

Yeah, I don't know. I think it would be an extreme move to quit everything. I couldn't quit my laptop. But yes, a lot of other things can be deleted if one wants to. It is a choice.

Expand full comment

If I were not deathly ill I would have tried this.... ironically what keeps me going right now is my laptop, my only real access to the world.... and the ONLY item of value in my piles of hobo possessions (two tears)....

Expand full comment
author

A laptop, yes. Me too. It is my connection with the weather, my mail, my online work. I definitely need it, too, AT

Expand full comment

Ah, we remember the days before screen addiction (not counting TV) don’t we? Is it still possible to live that way? 🧐

Expand full comment
author

I think it is, partially. For example, I am perfectly happy without a smart phone or TV. And I CERTAINLY would not choose to have any kind of bracelet nagging me all day long or an Alexa on my kitchen counter. But I only speak for myself. We do what we do.

Expand full comment

It is certainly possible. But it is getting more difficult. For example, concert and theater tickets require an app now. I used to collect my concert ticket stubs. There aren’t any anymore. I do admit, a smartphone has made my job teaching guitar easier. I have all my lesson music on there, and my contacts, and my calendar. It is super convenient.

Expand full comment

Excellent, Sharron. Wouldn’t it be something if we could revert to the way things used to be? I like and utilize technology, but man, life was so much simpler before all of this.

Expand full comment
author

Yeah... this is just a fantasy Justin. These kids may come running back in a week... ha ha ha

Expand full comment

Now here's a modern horror story if there ever was one!

"Yesterday they had gathered their iPads, laptops, smartphones — all of it, and carefully disabled each one, wiped them clean, smashed them."

😅

Up for a detox weekend? No phones for two days? It can't be done! 😂

Expand full comment
author

ha ha ha ha. Two days without a smart phone? Easy, for me, since I have never owned one. But my laptop is chained to my ankle every waking hour... sigh.

Expand full comment

My son wants to "film" his catch... so there, phone is needed. although silly to call it a phone since I rarely use it for calls. you could get one of those fancy iPads, less weight on the ankle! 😅

Expand full comment

Cold turkey.

I do remember when we only had a land line, tv was in a console and we watched Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, you could go a whole day without it because you were playing outside, the words iPad and iPhone weren't in the dictionary....or laptop. Pogo sticks were in vogue, not video games. We actually wrote letters (the shock of it all). We had conversations instead of sitting at the same table texting back and forth. But I digress....

Expand full comment
author

My mom would send us kids out to play right after breakfast and she didn't expect to see us back until the street lights came on. She was never worried about what we were up to. Probably should have been!

Expand full comment