BIRDSONG - An Offline Kit for Connection in a Digital Age
‘Birdsong’ is designed to help you spend more time in the real world, away from your digital devices, totally offline. It is designed to help you tune back into the sounds of nature, to enjoy the physicality of the world around you, and reconnect with loved ones in a meaningful and tangible way. It includes a step by step guide to a more mindful online/offline balance, as well as activities, quotes and prompts for reconnection, and a generous selection of cards, illustrations and writing paper to make your journey as enjoyable as possible.
CONTENTS:
- 8 stage guide with topics such as ‘creating space’ and ‘intentions/attention’ which include simple activities to help you reconnect with the offline world in a meaningful way
- corresponding sheets to help with the activities such as colouring sheets, digital intentions sheets, etc.
- 4 sheets of writing paper
- 5 postcards/mini prints
- 3 sheets of stickers
- 2 folding greetings cards and envelopes
We probably have more going on in our brains - more mental stimuli, more to remember - more noise, than any other generation of humans that have ever walked the planet.
Some of this is a blessing. We can control so much from the palm of our hands. We can communicate effortlessly with friends and family who live on the other side of the world. We can order something we need and have it arrive the very next day.
But the flip side of this is the pressure that is activated when we could be doing something useful at any given moment. We are constantly bombarded with ways to improve ourselves, ways to be more productive, ways to look, sound, appear better.
But often, our attempts to improve ourselves fall by the wayside. There is just too much going on our heads and we don’t have the space or the time. So many of us have downloaded countless apps that promise to improve our lives - and often with admirable optimism we really believe they will. Often, they sit unused, taking up more space in our phones and our minds.
Our concentration levels are lower than ever - often along with our creativity and free time. So often, our increased screen and device usage, coupled with a lack of space to breathe and reflect are to blame.
It was for this reason that, in the middle of lockdown, I started to reevaluate my own screen-time. I tried a few times to cut down time on my devices using pure willpower, but this seemed futile. I have tried various tactics since then, but the most effective strategy for me is to physically leave my phone behind - only then did I start to remember what it was like to live life without a smartphone - not having the answers to every question available at my fingertips left me with enough time to exercise my memory. The moments I used to fill by checking email or replying to messages intermittently when it really wasn’t necessary were filled with creativity and ideas. After a few weeks I couldn’t believe how much life I had been missing out on. I felt so much better with my new digital habits that it inspired me to put together my own guide with tips, exercises and ideas of how you too can reduce your own screen time and reconnect with the things and people that matter to you.