This is one of the major parts of Week 4, which I’m currently equally excited and scared to start!

Originally starting as “Reading Deprivation” in 1992, and later evolving to include Social Media and the like, one of the main aims of this is to help you ‘consume’ less, and allow yourself more time and space to create. You simply stop reading/consuming anything outside your own self. A conscious unplugging, to connect with the artist within and unblock one’s creativity.

While I’ve found it easy to disconnect from Social Media before, I now realize I’ve always been filling this time with other things to consume instead. Books, movies, podcasts, etc. Never have I truly experienced *this* kind of deprivation before. And it’s especially hard now; to be so disconnected at a time when every day brings along something unexpectedly new. As much as I feel the need to stay around and stay updated, I honestly realize how much being here over the last couple of weeks has taken a toll on my mental health, and how this sounds like exactly what I need right now. To disconnect.

So this is me committing myself to one week of less consumption and more creation. Or relaxation, whatever comes along. 😁 I’m not sure if I’ll continue with these posts during the week, but if I do write something worth sharing during the day, I guess I can share it here (and hope nothing else catches my attention and makes me stay while I do!) And so if any of my upcoming posts happen to not be in alignment with the state of the world at any point, never mind me; I’ll be living in my own world for a while. I might also be missing some messages, notifications, etc. but only for a week inshaAllah. Or maybe less if I couldn’t survive, we’ll find out lol.

Why am I posting this?
If you’ve made it this far, well, I guess I just wanted to suggest that you try something similar, too! Not necessarily for a week, even just a day. Maybe try making some time where you don’t feel the need to ‘consume’ anything. It does sound hard, but definitely worth a try! And if you ever do, I’d love to hear about your experience. ( :

July 11, 2020