Online, Offline and Gratitude

As I think about 2026, I’ve been wondering what it would be like to go offline. No more roller-coaster news. No more—or, at least, less—tech bro and media manipulations. No more spontaneous combustion shopping. In the process of this wondering, I’ve asked myself these questions and thought I’d share them so that, perhaps, you might ask yourself, too.

Would I be willing to stop shopping online, go cold turkey on going to Walmart,Target, Amazon, if it meant “More Power to The People” because I’d end up supporting local businesses—what’s left of them—instead?

What if, willing or not, I couldn't go online anymore? Think solar flares taking out the electrical grid. How much more time in the day would I have if I weren’t scrolling, texting, just staring at that screen, trying to remember how the heck I ended up cooing at a pile of Maine Coon kittens at play?

How would I stay connected to friends and family from afar if Zoom and Skype and Teams are no longer an option? How would I connect, if not via the world wide web?

Not many questions but they cover a lot and got me to look at how I shop and how I spend my time.

I’m still editing my intentions for this next year but this is where they are at today:

To get offline so as to regain my focus, attention, and ability to express myself.

To write Triage and to workshop Embodiment, both of which work with my shadow parts and unconscious. (Jung is so cool. So is Astrology. More on them next year!)

To forgive myself for a lifetime of self-judgment and should-bes, and just Be.

To be grateful for all the gifts in my life, not least my friends and family. Thank you.