Getting smarter by ditching my smartphone

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Here I am, back again - for a change - on my former main account.

I am nearing a 1000 posts. This will be # 986 , so I can't just let this account fade out, right now.

It's quite a special day, as Bitcoin seems to be reaching an All Time High, which is quite distracting and exciting , as I did invest a substantial amount of money in it, last year, and bought a bit more today.

Meanwhile, @clareartista and I are co-creating magic on a daily basis, really enjoying living together and starting to feel ( into each other) better and better, which is not an easy task in this day and age. There's just so many distractions and most of them aren't the feel good ones, if you catch my drift.

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I must say though, that it really helps to not only live off-grid but also without a working phone for quite some time ( if I don't count Clare's phone, that I use every now and then ).

My phone has had all kinds of charging issues, in the last couple of months, and (un)fortunately a new charger as well as a new charging port haven't solved the problem. It seems pretty dead ( although I haven't entirely given up ) and I finally decided to order a new phone, yesterday.

Although... more like an old phone. That is, it isn't a smart phone but a (2017) Nokia 8210, which is actually a modern version of a 1999 model.

I was getting pretty tired of smartphones, after over a decade of using them.

I'm smarter without them.

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Me, about a week ago, when my smartphone was still charging, every now and then...

In fact, detoxing from my phone (addiction) made me realize that I don't miss most of the apps that I used on it much at all. In fact, I am happy to no longer have to drain my energy on Whatsapp messages ( especially the ever active family app with my mom and 3 siblings ).

Since my phone stopped charging, I have been emailing with my family, as well as the occasional ( old-fashioned ) phone call. It feels good.

Where I first felt disconnected, I now feel more connected and - as an added bonus - I start feeling better overall: less anxious, less distracted, happier and calmer. There's way less to worry about, all of a sudden.

So, today, Clare and I spent a lot of time in bed, resting, cuddling and making love. Both of us did some writing and we got physical, again, to collect firewood in the garden of the house that we are renting. We cut down most of a dead cork oak - that probably burnt down years ago - and we got ourselves a serious amount of dry firewood.

Part of it is now burning nicely in the wood burner, in front of me, warming up our living room. We also got the water heater working, yesterday, and enjoyed a shower ( me ) and a bath ( Clare ). And - as per usual - both Clare and I prepared some super nice food that we thoroughly enjoyed. We do not only love cooking for each other, we also love eating (each other's food).

All in all, it was a pretty amazing day and a nice contrast to yesterday, when we drove to the peak of the highest mountains of Portugal ( Torre, 1993 meters ). That was a pretty awesome trip too that I will show pictures of in a future post, probably on my @diaryofacreative account.

Time to finish this write up as I am looking forward to see the remainder of Chariots of Fire, a 1980s movie that Clare and I started watching in bed, yesterday night, before we fell asleep, less than half an hour in. Due to having had yet another exhausting day, in the best way possible.

I sense that we will sleep very well tonight, after all the physical work, and wish you a beautiful day and night too, wherever you are.✨

Thanks for reading!

P.S. If you aren't already, I suggest following my @diaryofacreative account. That is where I have been and will be sharing most of my stories from now on.

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Another sneaky picture that @clareartista took of me, days ago, when we chilling on a chilly day, in her tent. A huge structure that can actually be erected in about 20 minutes, which is positioned just behind/above our house.
Let's hope that the ants that started invading it today, will have made space for us again, tomorrow.

I don't like ants in my tents.