Inter-ruption
Back in the early-90’s I cultivated a friendship with a woman from Denmark while we were both nannies in Paris. Both in our early-20’s, we yearned to live abroad, to travel and to experience adventure. After living in Paris, I set off on my own to Interrail through Europe while she made her way to Southeast Asia with a bucket list to pursue. Among the items on her list was a multi-day camel safari in Rajashthan, India. When we met up later in the United States, she was full of stories from the safari–how self-possessed her camel was, how sore her ass was after hours of bouncing and chafing, and how, over the course of several days, her group found itself deep in the still desert.
Miles away from electric tyrannies that occlude the cosmos, the sky was darker and more highly populated with specs of light than she had ever imagined. With no trees or leaves to cleave the wind, the air was still. She heard 2-humped beasts breathing, the crackle of the fire and the dry, patient silence. In that sleepy desert, in that expansive and peaceful planetary freeze-frame, her group was greeted with a faint tinkling sound in the distance. As the tinkling grew slowly louder, they spied a small, bobbing light approaching their camp.
After a short while, a man emerged out of nowhere with a small refrigerated cart selling bottles of Coca-Cola: an unexpected interruption from civilization trespassing on their illusion of exquisite remoteness.
Such silences that were rare decades ago are rarer still today. It is a habit of modernity to emphasize photographing experiences over being in them; to interrupt an in-person interaction with a dear friend to take a call on a cell phone; to look up a random fact or information online, only to find an hour has passed and we forget what we were initially seeking. It is as if we are trying to occupy all the Now’s of the multiverse in the same moment, but, because we cannot actually clone or multiply ourselves, we serially commit interruption upon our persons.
Cheering on our habits of self-interruption
is a bottomless attention economy:
spawning new algorithms
and ensnaring the remaining shards of our broken focus.
Quality, nutritious solitude requires non-interruption. The world is set up so perfectly to cajole us away from the cave within us and to cage our attention in frivolous velocities, therefore, the kind of solitude I prescribe will support you to gate keep interruption and distraction. Interruption is not inherently bad, but for the purposes of curating depth within solitude, it should be considered while calculating the set and setting for a retreat.
The easiest way to ensure non-interruption is to camp on an island with no electricity, though there are no guarantees that a gentleman in a small boat won’t make his way to you to sell soda. Most people don’t have the finances, access or time to scaffold a retreat with such a remote (and effective) venue. In the absence of access to such a setting, I recommend:
Taking time to understand interruptions in your life that you are susceptible to.
Define “interruption” for yourself.
Make a list of 5-10 common interruptions you experience.
Is a typical interruption self-initiated (looking at a smartphone) or initiated by others?
How do you feel when you are interrupted by another person, people?
Exhilarated (something novel approaches!)?
Annoyed? Enraged?
Confused? Derailed?What do you do post-interruption?
Rank your list of interruptions that you might be most susceptible to during a solo retreat. One is most vulnerable to getting distracted by, the highest number represents the least distraction.
For a multi-day retreat, finding, borrowing or reserving a space for your retreat where interruptions have the least access to you (if possible).
For a multi-hour retreat, scheduling it during a time of day where others in your life are occupied: during school hours, in the dead of night, at work, etc.
Writing a Technology Engagement Plan prior to your retreat that includes all potential sources of communication or entertainment, including video games, smart phones, wall phones, dumb phones, computers, cable box channel services. The plan can include
The minimum number of hours where you will not use any technology.
The maximum number of hours you permit yourself to use any technology.
Using a timer on a router.
Putting a phone, smart watch, or other wearable devices in a phone safe.
If needed, writing a plan for other interruptions you may be especially susceptible to during your time away. This can and should include how friends or family might support non-interruption during your retreat.
