Illegal Cafe
My Dream
My dream is to live a life of peace.
I don't desire to live a life of luxury in a mansion or own multiple houses. I don't want a yacht. I just want one house that feels like a "home." In other words, a cozy home away from the city. Preferably in the woods somewhere. Somewhere secluded. Perhaps by the ocean.
I don't desire to accumulate exorbitant wealth. I'd like $5m by retirement. That's enough to make $200k/yr, passively. Based upon my calculations, this will take 20 to 40 years. To accelerate this, I'm pursuing alternative means of producing income. Perhaps I ought to reconsider my number or my savings rate to shorten this period. Youth is only granted once. Mine is quickly slipping away.
I don't desire great social status. I will never hold a C-level position. Power of that manner is not appealing to me. The responsibilities and stress that come with C-suite life outweigh the benefits. I seek peace.
I don't desire to have adventure-filled weekends. Weekend "benders." I just want to relax on weekends. I want to have some alone time. I want to connect with other quiet, introverted, and driven friends.
Some day I'll grow old. I want to remember my youth and my life as being stress-free. I want to shed myself of material goods. I want peace.
To support these goals, I will be beginning a new experiment.
Analog Weekends
I have determined that phones and computers are sources of stress and worry in my life. I would like to spend as little time around them as possible. I desire to return to more "primal" roots. To spend my time in nature. To connect with God. To connect with real, living, breathing, people. Not caricatures on the internet.
Starting today, I will be dropping the usage of all electronic devices on every Saturday. I don't care if people want to make plans with me. I don't care if I miss important phone calls. I don't care if I miss important texts. I don't care if I fall out of touch with the news. I don't care if my entire Saturday ends up being "boring."
I want peace. I will no longer be using my phone or computer on the weekend. No excuses.
Mindset
Electronics are a vice. They follow the same rules as any vice.
Vices are deceptive. They disguise themselves as a prize. As something desirable.
We are chumps when we fall for this deception. We become addicts when we repeat this fall.
Kicking addiction is hard. We trick ourselves. We think that resisting temptation is self-denial. That we must exercise discipline to deny ourselves "our prize." This is where our emotion fails our wiser, introspective, logical selves.
Vices are not a prize.
Deep down, we loathe our vices. We desire to rid ourselves of them.
Our vices are evil. We know this. We feel this. We suffer from this. Vices don't make us happy, they make us sad.
This logic is key to ensuring my success. This "reversal" concept will assure victory of my logical self over my emotional self.
Weekend electronics are not my friend. I don't want to use my laptop or phone. Electronics sap empathy. Electronics distract me. Electronics make life move too fast. Electronics cloud my thinking.
Refining the Point
However, electronics do serve a purpose. Electronics are a tool. They're tools for productivity. I ought not to feel guilty for using these tools for their intended purpose. I ought not to beat myself for using them during the week.
The problem is my usage on Saturday's only. I want one day off of electronic devices. That's reasonable.
Enforcement
We live in a society that expects connection. It's weird to go off the grid. It's hard to go off the grid. Even temporarily.
These types of expectations make me feel guilt. They will serve as excuses to compromise my own belief.
I don't want to be contactable on Saturdays. The world won't like this. I must win. I will make no escape hatch.
SMS
I will setup the "do not disturb" auto-responder and put my phone in a lockbox. It will simply inform texters that I am not checking my phone on Saturdays for religious purposes. If I'm needed urgently, they can simply stop by my house to talk to me. Most people won't. That's fine, they must not have needed to talk to me that badly anyway.
Why religious purposes? I've found that's the best way to shut people up. I've also tried fasting before. Invariably, people ask why I'm doing it. If I mention health, many launch into massive, unprompted, exposés about how I'm confused, wrong, and/or crazy to fast. Ever since I started saying "I fast for religious purposes," most people are well-adjusted enough to change the subject. I assume the same strategy will work here, especially since the Jewish community has already set a religious precedent for not using electronics on weekends.
For e-mail, I will also setup an auto-responder.
Closing Thoughts
These two strategies ought to keep people reasonably informed of my decision to disconnect. They will also alleviate any guilt I feel about not being contactable.
I'm excited to put this plan into action.
I have many other thoughts regarding phone and computer usage. For example, I'd like to start writing these posts using pen/pencil and paper. I would then transfer them after they were hand-written. I'll write more on this subject later.
Peace.