Log Off, Mute All, Carry On

Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad, Austin Kleon's newest book, arrived yesterday. As with his first book, Steal Like an Artist, it's fab.

I'm only on the third chapter, but it's already a balm for the soul and a boost to the creative mind.

I love his reversal on the hippie sentiment:

Yesiree...Log Off, Mute All and Carry On.

I'm doing that now. In fact, just a few minutes ago, Team Boyer deactivated all their Facebook accounts (which means even our pages--one, with over 3K fans--are inaccessible).

I've put a note on Twitter that I won't be tweeting (although posts from this blog will automatically be tweeted there, I'm not there).

Instagram? May still post some pics there. 

Unplugging isn't new to Team Boyer. You may remember my post from 2012 called No TV for 3. We went over a decade without TV programming (we had TVs, mind you, but only used them for DVDs and the occasional PS2 gaming). 

We got a shitload of creative work done during that time, let me tell ya! 

We ended up getting a Smart TV last year, so we're streaming--but to be honest, we don't spend a lot of time watching. When we do, it's usually documentaries, British mysteries (me and Noah), Gaia, nature stuff, cartoons, YouTube tutorials and Great Courses lectures.

Back to unplugging: deactivating all our Facebook accounts was so freeing! I'm feeling the "freed up computing space" in a big way.

I don't think we realize how much social media accounts function as a metaphorical "programs running in the background"--which means an unconscious (and sometimes, very conscious) drain on our "computing" energy.

I've also decided not to check any of my books' rankings on Amazon, nor the reviews.

My job is to create, not cater or monitor (which may go against prevailing publishing advice, but hey--I tried it "their" way...and it didn't work for me or my creative life). 

So this blog--and our Newsletter (you can subscribe here, if you're not already a recipient)--will be the primary ways we communicate to the world.

Notice I said "we". You may have noticed that my our blog got a makeover yesterday. 

Making this a Boyer Creations blog has been a long time coming--and I'm excited that we've consolidated our communication streams to basically only two channels. Really, I couldn't do what I do--to the extent I do it--without Ron and Noah. And they couldn't do their creative work without my help, either.

We're truly a team. And we're up to a lot these days! Visit ChezBoyer.Etsy.com to view or purchase our latest offerings for sale. BoyerCreations.com is still up and running, too.

So stay tuned to see what we're creating and what we're thinking (or reading or watching or listening to)--and if you'd like, leave us a comment. We're glad to have you, and would be happy to answer any questions you have for us--as a family/creative team...or individually. And if you love what we're about, feel free to "buy us a coffee" (aka the Tip Jar). See the symbol at the top left of the blog? Just click and caffeinate. ::wink::

Carry on! (We will be).

Comments

[tamstercmt]

I don't watch much TV, and when I do, I'm usually working on some sort of project. Lately I'm finding that I haven't been on social media much either. My daughter and her family are always on FB but I can't sit all day reading posts. I do love the fact that I can research to my heart's content on line. I spent a lot of time at the library as a kid looking stuff up.

It's a great idea to unplug every so often. We are so dependent on electronics of all kinds, and I'm as guilty as the next person. I get laughed at when I say one of these days there's going to be a major crash and what are people going to do? The cloud is a great thing and the ability to store information is great. But, I still print a lot of stuff out. I wonder if other people raised in the 70's feel that way. There's more to life than watching TV and texting. It's amazing how many people don't get that!

[Janet Boyer]

I think those of us raised in the 70s and before are flabbergasted at not only the ubiquitous "face in the phone" syndrome--but also, the lack of basic knowledge and life skills among Millenials. (I agree. I think most people under 30 would be up Shit Creek if there were an electronics blackout!)

And then there's those measuring self-worth via "likes", retweets, "hearts" or "favorites"... (Ron told me I need to see "Nosedive" as a part of the Black Mirror series on Netflix).

In my AMZN cart, I have a book called The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. It looks great! https://amzn.to/2V07NTL I started reading Reader, Come Home--but it's really boring. Maybe I'll give it another try.

In any event. I can really FEEL the freed-up energy by keeping my focus on this blog and our Etsy store! I wish I would have done it sooner it was a long time coming. :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! -- Janet