Shouts and Whispers.

One of things I've noticed the most this winter is the difference between things that shout for my attention - and things that whisper.

There are plenty of examples out in the world, for sure - social media, news, even the ads for the local grocery store. But the one that's really been salient this past season - is my body.

Sleep whispers. Stress shouts. Healthy, whole food whispers. Brownies and alcohol shout. Exercise whispers. Tired shouts.

It's the quiet voice, showing up at 2 am, so hard to hear over the stimulus of light and picture and thought and sound, saying "We could rest now. It would be really nice." The way it's given up and gone quiet by 5, when I finally fall asleep.

It's the quiet nudge in the late afternoon, the light of too-short winter days fading, saying "You know, a little walk in the sun would be nice." Just one more email. I just want to get this last thing done. The piece is almost finished. Right after the dishes. And another day passes, the sun falls, and those promises go unfulfilled.

This is on me. I'm the one choosing sympathetic over parasympathetic. External over internal. Manufactured over real. And it needs to change.

I've been reading a lot recently about a movement - driven mostly by Gen Z - to turn our phones and devices back from content consumption machines into simple tools. Brilliant, swiss pocket-knives for our modern age - maps, a camera, a phone and texts, a way to get on the metro and pay for groceries - and nothing more.

And I'm curious how much, for me, that's part of it. On the surface, I don't use social media or play a ton of mobile games - but my phone and devices are still the place where so much of the noise and shouting first come from. I still pick up my phone as a habit, opening up the same apps to fill the gaps in sound and stimulus. Turning on the shouting, just when I'm almost able to hear the whispering of good things, murmuring like a small stream, only a few steps away in the forest of my mind.

And so it's time to try an experiment.

I've recently discovered the charming father-daughter duo that is Makari Espe and her dad, and watched her short video where they both cut their screen time by 90%. In it, she links to a short, weekly email course by the Guardian with step-by-step instructions on how to get off our phones - and start doing other things.

So starting today, I'm giving that a go. And hey, if it sounds like something you could use, feel free to join me on the journey. In the notification-saturated world we live in, I suspect the only thing we have to lose is some noise. :)

With lots of love, -Steven

p.s. The best thing I saw this week was also Makari and her dad, further into their journey. They decided to go on a week-long, no-phone roadtrip. With actual paper maps and things. And it's adorable.