36 hours of silence: the experience & the takeaways

Years and years ago, I, like many others, would spend New Year’s Eve at a house party or at an event in a city, blearily ringing in the new year amidst champagne and random kisses and dancing and merriment. This part wasn’t so bad, but the next day sure was. And I would inevitably feel glum about starting a whole new year hungover (again) and all the metaphysical woes that accompany that. 

Then one year when I was living in downtown Portland, Oregon, and on a whim I signed up for a Starlight 5k race which kicked off at midnight. Midnight! Hoping to not puke, I didn't drink anything beforehand, and I walked myself all dressed up in fun running attire to the other side of Portland and did this little event with a couple hundred other people all sharing this distinct experience, together. The night was cold and sharp, the colors bright, and I felt a-freaking-mazing when the run was done. 

I had fully planned to join in all the drinky revelry after the run (I didn’t want to miss out!!), but when I opened the door to the first bar and heard the drunken yelling, smelled the alcohol, saw people already coming down, tired and stumbling, I closed the door and walked myself back over the bridge to the other side of Portland, home.  

Since that event, I have created a solo ritual on New Year’s Eve. I would generally go outside, to the beach or the woods, do some visioning, burn some papers, meditate. I took this extremely seriously, and while it was a good ritual, there was a lot of pressure on it. I have now learned to spread this kind of work out throughout the year, leaning into the quarter system, and have incorporated a day of silence on New Year’s Day proper. 

In 2025 I spoke a whole lot about digital minimalism. But I myself had lost the way at the end of Q4, feeling that my brain had been absolutely frazzed-out by holiday madness and social media content, and I wanted to do a serious detox. So! I did 36 hours of silence. Here’s what it entailed: 

• 7pm New Year’s Eve to 7am Jan 2. 
• Didn't hang out with anyone, or drive anywhere. 
• No screens. (Some people have asked: but you can still use your phone, right?) Ha. No. 
• I also covered up the clocks in my house (with a little post-it note that said ‘I love you, brain'). 
• Silence in this case did not equal not being allowed to speak - I still hummed some songs, and said ‘happy new year’ to people passing on the street - it was more so utilizing Cal Newport's take on solitude, which is "a subjective state in which you’re isolated from input from other minds", which in essence for me on this day meant: No reading. 

I would say this last one was the kicker. During the Screen-Free Sunday Challenges, you’re off screens, but if you’re anything like me, you can tuck into a good book for the better part of a day. 

I wanted to see what would happen when I was only creating, or being still, or using my body, versus consuming. 

Here are the things that I did: 

• Sat my buns down at the altar and did the first meditation and prayer sequence in a loooong time. Pulled a card for 2026. 
• Did the visioning deep work and created my Guiding Document for the year. 
• Deep cleaned. 
• Tried making a new Japanese dish. Because I couldn’t look up the recipe, I just took a crack at it, guessing what was in it more or less. (It was wonderful!)
• Made conscious, lovely meals and didn’t eat any refined sugar. Ate thoughtfully. 
• Went for a walk in the dark, frosty, sparkly night. (I was nervous about this because it was also a bit icy in spots, but since I had time, I was careful, and it was beautiful and refreshing.)
• Deep conditioned and braided my hair and other various preening activities (ha). 
• I got so bored by just sitting around the second night that I busted out my stationary and wrote a bunch of people cards and letters. (Sheesh I love snail mail.) 

Here’s what the experience was like: 

• Mixed. At some points I felt light, clean, focused, and free, and at others (notably, trying to go to sleep the second night when I would normally be reading) I felt like I was going insane. 
• But BOY did I get a lot done, and entered into the year with a super clean house, and a feeling of being ‘squared away’ and ready, and a general energetic calm. 
• A remembering of what it feels like to return to my own brain, thoughts, sit with feelings; process. 
• It was interesting to see how much I based my actions on the clock, even if my day didn’t need to be dictated by time. Such as: when I thought it was around lunch time, I looked at the oven clock dozens of times to see if it was time to eat yet. But I couldn't see the time, so instead I worked on checking in: did I feel hungry? Did I feel tired and ready for bed? Did I feel rested and ready to get up? 
• I missed my mum and my friends and had that FOMO creep in…people were probably out there doing all kinds of fun stuff on New Years! (True, but just as likely people were also on the couch, day one of their two-day hangovers.) 
• Really, as with the Screen-Free Sundays, afterwards is really when the understanding happens. Returning to screens, external noise, podcasts, checking the phone a whole bunch, email… there is an immediate recognition in the difference in your state of being. 
• It doesn’t take long to reset, and it helps to elucidate your level of compulsion to screens and constant distraction. 

Some takeaways: 

Very similar to what I talk about on lots of podcasts these days, here are my general takeaway about this sort of thing: 

• Yes, it is hard. 
• But, it is critical. 
• And, yes, it takes dedication and a willingness to feel discomfort. 
• But, it is so, so worth it to work on this, and pushing back against full relinquishment of one’s mind to social media and screens will only continue to be more crucial for our individual lives, relationships, creativity, and mental health as our society becomes more and more addicted to screens, exacerbated now by the introduction of AI. 

You want to give this kind of thing a shot? Join me on Sunday, February 1 as we celebrate Imbolc (the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox!) with a Screen-Free day. Sign up for this free challenge, and I’ll send you lots of love, support, and TIPS leading up to execute this successfully. Sign up here. 

If this isn't your jam, no problem. But I implore you - think about ways that you can incorporate some digital boundaries into your life. It's cool to start small. Just start.