Logging Off Club: January
Monthly Newsletter
Reflections & Highlights
“Exacerbated by the advent of the digital era, a constant feeling of incompletion and inadequacy afflicts humans at every stage of life. Unlike the other animals inhabiting this world - our existence is defined by an abstruse, abstract, and self-inflicted concept that, for our natural inclination to define and label things, we decided to call time. Time is inescapable. It dictates our every move. It’s a God-like entity: invisible, intan-gible, tasteless. It doesn’t smell, it doesn’t make a sound, and it cannot physically hold us back or push us forward. Still, its presence is ubiquitous. It causes us to lie to ourselves and others; it has the power to crush our spirit or uplift us. There’s never an abundance of time. Conversely, we can never have enough. We drive ourselves into the ground desperately trying to gain access to more. We blame our personal shortcomings on the lack thereof.
Time is such an important feature in our lives that, from a very young age, we are taught how to handle it to forego future mismanagement. In reality, time rules us. So much so that those living at the margins of this ethereal yet finite commodity are ostracized and looked down upon by society. We call them outcasts or drifters, we question their sanity. Secretly envious of their freedom, we act disgusted by them to make ourselves feel important.
We think we can tame time by attributing fabricated figures to it and constricting them to little objects made of the most disparate materials. Our ancestors built towers so that people could know what time it is at every hour. Furthermore, it became a religious predicament with bells ringing on the dot. Time is so valuable, we spend thousands - sometimes hundreds of thousands - to wear it on our wrists as a sign of affluence. We strive for punctuality as tardiness is an offense, a trait not to aspire to. We praise Northern countries for their reliability and judge Southerners for their nonchalance.
But in its true essence, time has no shape - it’s priceless. It’s a game between the sun and the moon, an endless carousel of Mother Earth. It’s pure physics. It’s a harmonious dance between light and darkness, winter and summer. It’s the natural cycle of life. It is no coincidence that endless revered authors and thinkers have pontificated upon the essence of time and its relation to the human condition. Most notably, Samuel Beckett in his famed tragicomedy “Waiting For Godot”. The play is often interpreted as an allegory for the human condition, with Godot representing an elusive goal or purpose that we all seek but never seem to find. Beckett raises questions about the nature of existence, the meaning of life the never-ending pursuit of something greater than ourselves.”
This is a quote extracted from Post Action’s installation at the Zurich Design Museum. Post Action is a three-dimensional publication that tell large-scale stories through site-specific installations, images, texts, and sound.
Our HQLT this month
(high-quality-leisure-time)
ADELE:
Sauna, volunteering at the local soup kitchen, trying new yoga classes, talking to strangers as the antidote to ai brainrot, trying a weekday evening pub quiz with my friend, the Zurich design museum, joining Everyone Hates Elon in Zurich to send big tech billionaires a message!
INDIA:
Brewing homemade kombucha for the first time, reading, cooking nutritious dinners, jigsaw puzzling into the new year (we managed 2!), browsing the chazzas, hiking Moel Eilio, trying out my Campsnap camera!
January’s guide to being Offline
Add a screentime widget to your home screen. A gentle, but frequent reminder of how long you are spending on your phone.
What we’re reading
NON-FICTION
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Morals, by Oliver Burkeman.
NON-FICTION
Mattering: The Secret to Building a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, by Jennifer Breheny Wallace.
ARTICLE
Bland, easy to follow, for fans of everything: what has the Netflix algorithm done to our films? Read here.
News in the offline world
UK study to examine effects of restricting social media for children
UK ministers launch consultation on whether to ban social media for under-16s
Where we’re walking
I had a goal of summiting 3 new peaks in Eryri National Park this year. However, by December 29th and having only completed two of the three, my partner and I decided to make a quick scurry up Moel Eilio.
Needless to say, the views were stunning, the snow was crunchy underfoot, and the shining sun made this walk really enjoyable - despite the steepness in some sections!
We did a circular loop that took about 3 hours, including lunch at the top. Check out a similar route here. It’s slightly longer, but starts in the more convenient location of Llanberis.
Introducing….
Logging Off Club Washington DC
Logging Off Club New Forest - Run by our Co-Founder, India.
What we’re listening to
Offline events this mont
Bookmark Making & Book Swap
By Logging Off Club Bristol
This event is FREE, but please bring along any craft supplies you'd be willing to share. No RSVP, no entry (we need to track numbers for the venue and to ensure there are enough supplies). We are SUPER excited for this one and hope to see familiar and new faces for some screen-free time. As always, please reach out with any questions.
SECURE YOUR SPOT via loggingoffclub.bristol@gmail.com
Sunday 22nd Feb, 6.30-8.30 PM
📍Better Foods, Wapping Wharf
Welcome Event
By Logging Off Club New Forest
This is Logging Off Club New Forest’s first event. Come and see what we are about, connect with others, and have your chance to shape this community via a creative medium.
Keep updated via our page.
February, date TBC.
📍TBC
We have a website!
We have been working with Battenhall to finally create an official Logging Off Club website. Thanks so much to Charnah & the team for all your help.
It’s still a work in progress, but you can check it out here!
Take Action
We know lots of you are passionate about challenging big tech power. Here are 2 virtual events to get involved with next week from 2 grassroots campaigns!
Mad Youth Organise are fighting back against big techs harms against young people
Pull the Plug are a movement fighting the AI hype, get involved
Journal prompt
Reflect on some analogue joys from your childhood. How can you incorporate these into your life now and resist the online?
See you next month,
India & Adele