Welcome to Walker Weekly, a regularly scheduled newsletter where I share things that I find interesting, useful, inspiring, or thought-provoking. If you have anything of your own that falls into these categories, please let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for new inspiration.
Quote I’m pondering
Solitude Deprivation: A state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and free from input from other minds.
Cal Newport
In Cal’s book, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, he makes an argument that solitude deprivation is a very real and relevant issue.
When was the last time you (read as: I) spent even 30 minutes just sitting by yourself and thinking your thoughts, with no interference from the outside world? No interruptions by texts or phone calls, no notifications from Facebook or Instagram. No watching videos or skimming headlines, no checking emails – just you and your brain (and maybe pen and paper). And no, sleeping doesn’t count.
It’s an important clarification that solitude does not have to mean physical or social isolation. You don’t have to build a cabin in the woods to achieve temporary solitude. Instead, all you need is a concerted effort to shut out the world, if only for a moment, to spend time with yourself. I find journaling and long walks through the neighborhood to be good conduits for this.
Relatedly…
Lost art I’m reviving
Writing letters. Thanks to a book that compiles hundreds of letters written by John Steinbeck, I’ve been inspired to write and send, via good old fashioned snail mail, my first letters ever. I don’t know if you’ve ever done it, but I’ve found that writing a letter is both surprisingly difficult and tremendously satisfying. I’m using it as an opportunity to improve my writing, distill my thoughts, and say things to my friends that I might not have the time (or courage, ironically enough) to say in person.
Maybe it’s the way I was raised, or maybe it’s a symptom of our society as a whole, but I sometimes find it difficult to tell the people around me how grateful I am for their presence in my life. Putting it into a letter lets me control the expression of my thoughts, gives me time to reflect deeply, and imparts a certain importance to the words that I think is quite fitting.
That’s all for this week, thanks a lot for reading.
Stay curious,
Walker
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