Beautiful, and so impactful. Especially for me today as I am leaving social media and finally, after years of planning on it, making the transition to a brick phone. I want to know who it is I am without this luminous distorted mirror... thank you for this welcomed and poetic encouragement :)
Awesome. I left in January, in finally discovering the creative person I am. Also a few things I didn't know were there and I don't like, but the Lord is transforming me day by day. Blessings on your journey. You're able to discover how amazing you are! I just know it!
This is the best compliment! And honestly same—I often felt like most poetry went over my head which is why I thought mine wouldn’t be good enough to share, but I’ve been enjoying it so much and feel such power in putting my experiences down in a way that resonates!! So thank you so much <3
ah ah ah ah i am soooooo obsessed with this!!!!!!!!! i want to become very very small too. deleting all socials except substack helped so much. i feel like a child again, because life feels like mine again.
"clamshells of another life" is so beautiful. The paradox we're in, missing old phones... when they were tools, the nostalgia hidden inside as the pearl. Right now we have access to every pearl that has ever been, and it turns them, in their commonality, into what they started as; sand and an irritated mollusc
her eyes are soft from looking outward 😭 i feel like i’m constantly at a funeral for the true versions of myself that would exist without the influence of the internet. i’ll never know her again
You've captured the feeling of smartphone hell so well, to the point I might finally delete my worst vice (Instagram) today.
I hate that every time I'm reading a book, I'm fighting to keep my eyes from glassing over and checking my phone. I hate how even watching movies and playing video games now requires the same level of focus strain as reading. I hate how it peels my focus away from moments I love, like lazy afternoons with my boyfriend or the laughter of my niece and nephew. And most of all, I hate how freaking cramped my mind feels all the time. There's so many memes and hot takes and little videos to process everyday that my mind doesn't have time to daydream, create, LIVE. Like you, I want to make myself very, very small.
I don't know if I can switch to a flip phone completely. Both my friends and boyfriend are long distance, and we communicate with Discord. But I still want to reclaim my mind from the algorithm, however I can.
My son, that is 29, and I were discussing the best thing to do is start your 1st hour of the day without looking at your phone. Clear your head and sip your coffee. I was never big on social media but he now uses it sparingly and I try to communicate in a positive way. Just knowing that it can be a time suck and have negative effects is a big win !!
This is beautiful and profound. Yet I would not have seen it if not for my phone. I imagine having stumbled upon it on a coffee shop bulletin board, magazine, or photocopied in a letter from a friend.
Ayyy i love everything about this wonderful piece!! I’ve deleted other socials two months back, and never been this peaceful!! 🫶 i really wanna just try and experience living my life with a small nokia flip phone, and this hit home, Quirine!!
gorgeous writing! i feel like i've heard most common "phone bad" takes and im tired of it (i get it, i should cut my addiction, i probably wont) but this one captures an emotionality like no other i've read!!
I just wish that I didn't discover this by a notification that led to an app that led me to read it on a glowing demon in my hand! But how could I have connected and nodded my head and heart to this! Great writing! You have made human contact with this! Thank you.
Beautiful, and so impactful. Especially for me today as I am leaving social media and finally, after years of planning on it, making the transition to a brick phone. I want to know who it is I am without this luminous distorted mirror... thank you for this welcomed and poetic encouragement :)
That’s amazing! I hope the rest of us will all follow someday 🫶🏻
Awesome. I left in January, in finally discovering the creative person I am. Also a few things I didn't know were there and I don't like, but the Lord is transforming me day by day. Blessings on your journey. You're able to discover how amazing you are! I just know it!
outstanding poem. tiny gods we try not to worship hit my soul.
Thank you!!
This is so good! A relevant and deeply relatable feeling captured 😌 as we use our phones to comment lol
It never ends, not in this world of content consumption
I felt ironic posting this via my phone too lol
What the hell. I have such a hard time connecting with poetry usually, but damn I absolutely loved this and your Wish I was a smoker piece.
I cannot wait to read your book actually!
This is the best compliment! And honestly same—I often felt like most poetry went over my head which is why I thought mine wouldn’t be good enough to share, but I’ve been enjoying it so much and feel such power in putting my experiences down in a way that resonates!! So thank you so much <3
ah ah ah ah i am soooooo obsessed with this!!!!!!!!! i want to become very very small too. deleting all socials except substack helped so much. i feel like a child again, because life feels like mine again.
Yess that carefree childhood feeling 🥹
Please.
"clamshells of another life" is so beautiful. The paradox we're in, missing old phones... when they were tools, the nostalgia hidden inside as the pearl. Right now we have access to every pearl that has ever been, and it turns them, in their commonality, into what they started as; sand and an irritated mollusc
her eyes are soft from looking outward 😭 i feel like i’m constantly at a funeral for the true versions of myself that would exist without the influence of the internet. i’ll never know her again
You've captured the feeling of smartphone hell so well, to the point I might finally delete my worst vice (Instagram) today.
I hate that every time I'm reading a book, I'm fighting to keep my eyes from glassing over and checking my phone. I hate how even watching movies and playing video games now requires the same level of focus strain as reading. I hate how it peels my focus away from moments I love, like lazy afternoons with my boyfriend or the laughter of my niece and nephew. And most of all, I hate how freaking cramped my mind feels all the time. There's so many memes and hot takes and little videos to process everyday that my mind doesn't have time to daydream, create, LIVE. Like you, I want to make myself very, very small.
I don't know if I can switch to a flip phone completely. Both my friends and boyfriend are long distance, and we communicate with Discord. But I still want to reclaim my mind from the algorithm, however I can.
My son, that is 29, and I were discussing the best thing to do is start your 1st hour of the day without looking at your phone. Clear your head and sip your coffee. I was never big on social media but he now uses it sparingly and I try to communicate in a positive way. Just knowing that it can be a time suck and have negative effects is a big win !!
"Like candles
Like alters
Like tny gods
We try not to worship"
This line pulled me, slumped in my bed, to sitting up on the edge and reading, slowly, out loud; line by line, word by word.
I read those few words, and I knew instantly, this was art that was worth engaging with, fully and completely.
Thank you for this wonderful work.
This is such a compliment, thank you!!
This is beautiful and profound. Yet I would not have seen it if not for my phone. I imagine having stumbled upon it on a coffee shop bulletin board, magazine, or photocopied in a letter from a friend.
Keep looking up!
Ayyy i love everything about this wonderful piece!! I’ve deleted other socials two months back, and never been this peaceful!! 🫶 i really wanna just try and experience living my life with a small nokia flip phone, and this hit home, Quirine!!
Sent this to my husband who is always pining for his Motorola flip phone and raging against the malfunctions of his iPhone.
Same! My husband and I just had this conversation yesterday.
“this second self we cradle like a
self-inflicted wound” cut to my core. That was beautiful
“Like tiny gods we worship” 😭😭😭
gorgeous writing! i feel like i've heard most common "phone bad" takes and im tired of it (i get it, i should cut my addiction, i probably wont) but this one captures an emotionality like no other i've read!!
Thank you so much!!
I just wish that I didn't discover this by a notification that led to an app that led me to read it on a glowing demon in my hand! But how could I have connected and nodded my head and heart to this! Great writing! You have made human contact with this! Thank you.
Hope the irony doesn't escape you.