Hiatus!
I’ve got about one week left until I take off to Japan, Germany, the US and Mexico for a 2 months break from work.
Like for many other self-employed folks taking time off isn’t as easy for me as heading to the beach for the weekend. To actually get away from emails, Twitter and the always-on mode, I need to get as far away as possible, put myself in unfamiliar territory and cultures to find the distraction necessary to really switch off.
The Web has changed (me). Maybe it’s just another sign that I need to take a hiatus, but to me, the whole Web scene has lately become a mass-produced tabloid where people who have nothing to say are frantically shouting out nonsense, struggling for the attention of everyone and producing a Miso Soup of knowledge - instant and thin.
As a creative I’ve become caught in the over-exposure of creative work. On one hand I feel inspired, on the other hand it leaves me with a feeling of incapability and self-inflicted inefficiency - the me that punishes itself for not working hard enough during the hours I’m not working.
As an intellectual being I’m seriously starting to doubt the benefits of the Web and especially its so called social element. The amount of books and long-form content I’m able (or willing) to read and enjoy seems to decline with every new person I follow, every RSS feed I add and every new app I install. The quality of reporting and intelligent opinion on blogs and in the media as a whole has gone down the gutter. Any type of information is dumbed-down and sensationalised to be (re)tweetable. Real analysis based on facts rather than rumours is for people who have too much time, i.e. nobody.
As a professional I’m shaking my head at the silliness of billion-dollar evaluations, built-for-acquisition companies and the escalating talent and patent wars. The Web industry has completely lost touch of reality and now seems to measure talent and value largely based on visitor numbers and trending topics. Its fast-paced nature doesn’t allow most Web companies to step back and think before they act.
As a human being I feel exhausted. At the end of a busy day I often feel like I’ve managed to check off some items on my bottomless to-do list but achieved nothing to really grow as a person.
All those digital tools and new gadgets leave me with withdrawal symptoms after just half a day of abstinence. As the Social Web has become mainstream and more people are entering the job market, the pressure on us professionals to stay in touch with the latest has increased exponentially.
More and more I get a sense of going back to the roots. Letting the train depart without me and be one of those few who stay back to keep things in order, find happiness in the simple things. Overall, I’m actually not as pessimistic as this post may suggest. The Web still has a lot of potential for me. It’s just getting a lot harder to mute the things that make it such a messy, distracting place.
For now, I can’t wait to get lost in places like Tokyo, Berlin, NYC or Mexico City, recharging my creative batteries and be inspired by non-digital woah!-moments made by real people.
