Adults

at distracting you from that purpose. Once you have acknowledged that, you can bring yourself back to what you want to get done, not what your phone wants you to do.”

“The best part of the separation was the mindfulness I felt throughout my day. It felt like I was in an advertisement where the actor is enjoying life and being ‘in the moment.’ When I went back on to social media, I never realized how many things were being thrown at me...”

“I saw myself actually being a lot nicer to my family. Whenever I have my phone I just become very secluded so I don’t spend time with them and I always seem to be in a mood.” Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin blogged: “It’s all too easy to miss out on the important moments in life because you’re too busy staring at your phone. So let’s all put down the phone and ignore social media for a whole 24 hours….There’s such a huge value in disconnecting from digital devices and reconnecting with ourselves and our loved ones. But there’s also a bigger message that we can take home from this experience – that we can all be more present in our own lives. I really believe that being in the moment is the key to happiness and success – and being constantly glued to your phone can have a big impact on your relationships. I always try and focus my attention on whoever I’m with. When I’m in a meeting I listen and take notes and when I’m at the dinner table I catch up with my family. While I love technology and social media, a text or a tweet can never replace the real value of conversation.” So, in addition to conversation, what is there for an adult to do on such a day of rest? “Since I didn’t have my phone, I wasn’t distracted by anything so I spontaneously cleaned my room, learned how to play new songs on the guitar, and decided to bake more with my mom and my sisters. On the weekend, it made me think about all of the other things I have missed out on because I have been on my phone so much.”

What is there for a teenager to do?

On page 179, Shlain asks, “WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY? Think about all the (screen-free) activities you enjoy doing that you just don’t do enough. (It’s okay if doing nothing is at the top of that list.) Answer this question before looking at the list that Tiffany composed on

pages 179-180 and 188-189. Besides the examples from her family life, on page 179 Shlain asks, “WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY? Think about all the (screen-free) activities you enjoy doing that you just don’t do enough. (It’s okay if doing nothing is at the top of that list.)” Answer this question before looking at the lists on pages 179-180 and 189-191.

Roy Hessel (founder and CEO, EyeBuyDirect, and CEO, Clearly.ca and Coastal.com) says, “We invest our time in conversations, storytelling, reading, board games, and hosting family and friends.”

Tommy Sobel has written 200 things to do without your phone. It contains amazing outdoor adventures and low-key indoor activities.

People usually like to have the support of others when trying out new ideas and practices. One way to do this is through groups like One Table onetable.org, whose website lists Friday night dinners around the country that are open to everyone. Many synagogues offer Friday night dinners, or at least can find a dinner host for

those who ask. When I lived in Dallas, my congregation put different people on call each week to host strangers who might just show up at the last minute. It felt very odd when the “stranger” assigned to us one Shabbat turned out to have been one of my wife’s teachers a couple of decades earlier, as well as over 1,300 miles away.

Another way to experience the lifestyle is through adult camping. It turns out that over one million grown-ups (mostly young singles) go to US adult summer camps annually, and they’re going for more than the nostalgic joys of childhood.

What drives the adult camp market today is the growing interest in disengaging from smartphones, and the desire to participate in events outside of work. It’s got to the point nowadays where offline can be pitched as a luxury. Being unplugged is not only a release, it’s therapy. Here are a few examples: North America, offers getaways where you free yourself from the stresses of adult life’. Demand is growing for a few days’ worth of ‘digital Shabbat’ in our lives. That’s certainly the case at events that were becoming more popular pre-pandemic among twenty-somethings, such as:

Burning Man, the annual creative festival in Nevada (with many local versions around the world) that’s defined by the emptiness of the desert.

Restival, a retreat which promises “JOMO - the Joy of Missing Out, in a land where nature envelopes you in a vortex of magnetic energy and purifies your system.”

We know these camps and festivals may not be for everyone, but they do point to the desire to unplug and establish face-to-face human contact, even pre-

Camp No Counselors runs eleven camps in ‘put away your phone, gather your friends, and pandemic.

Trybal Gatherings (trybalgatherings.com) calls itself the leading provider of Jewish camp experiences for your adults and their friends.