The Dazzle #10

In which I surrender my Whatsapp in favour of letter-writing. With a quill. Probably.

I am experiencing a severe bout of techno-overwhelm. I mean, I’m always experiencing some sort of techno-overwhelm, but for some reason it feels particularly pronounced at the moment. I’m talking weeks-old Whatsapps that I have only replied to in my head, DMs that languish on Instagram, emails that people keep re-forwarding to the top of my inbox, only for them to fall back to the bottom of it again. There are now so many ways to connect with people, and yet I have never felt so disconnected. It’s like my brain has shut down when it comes to messages, which would be fine, if it didn’t have a habit of then waking me up in the middle of the night to berate me for being a bad friend, an unprofessional worker, and an all-round useless human.

At the moment, I am averaging a 7 day response to messages of any kind, working on the assumption that if it’s really urgent, they’ll make it clear. It’s not because I’m unbearably popular, by the way. I think I receive an average amount of messages, in line with most humans. It’s just there are now so many different ways of communicating, and I’m not sure my frontal lobe is designed to handle them all. Did so-and-so message me on Instagram or Telegram or some-other-gram that I’m not even on? I’m wondering if anyone has some sort of system they use to keep on top of their messages, because I’m about 10 minutes away from ditching my phone and taking up letter-writing. With a quill. If you do have a solution, please let me know in the comments below.

Anyway, I’m telling you all this because in the last seven days I have really surrendered all my telecommunication apps (lol) and got involved in old-fashioned pursuits that involve zero screen time. Or at least zero solo screen time (that sounds rude - what I mean is: I’ve allowed myself to watch the Traitors final with my family, but very little else). I’ve basically locked my phone in a drawer, except for particular hours when I need to make reels for work (I have a book coming out in a couple of weeks, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned). Here’s what I’ve been up to:

Going to see Rehab: The Musical Run don’t walk to get tickets for this - I think it’s only on in its current venue in Piccadilly for another week or so. It’s very funny and unexpectedly moving, with fantastic songs and acting. Top notch night out whether you’re sober or not, but an absolute must-see for all my 12 Step Fellows. Plus it’s got Mica Paris in it!

Reading Kiley Reid’s new novel Are you one of the many, many people who loved Such a Fun Age? Good news - Reid’s second novel, Come and Get It, is a cracker, about money and status and a society obsessed with it. It’s out next week, and it’s been happily distracting me from my inbox all week.

Appreciating all the lovely messages about the small snippet of my new book which was featured in the Telegraph You can read an extract from Mad Woman here. This bit, about my experiences with Binge Eating Disorder, was hard to write, but it came from the heart. I hope it helps. You can read the full thing when it comes out in hardback on Feb 15.

Running many, many miles I write this having just finished a 14 miler, as part of training for my challenge. It was really, really hard, my joints feeling creaky, and my legs feeling heavy. I enjoyed almost none of it, except for the end. But do you know what? It doesn’t matter. I did it, and that’s the important thing. I banked the miles, and I learnt a few valuable lessons about what doesn’t work for me when it comes to long runs (not leaving enough time for my breakfast to digest, and forgetting to put chafing cream on my thighs. Oops!).

Creating DIY ice baths in my tub Take two bags of ice, run a bath of cold water, and sit in it for 5 minutes while your daughter asks if you’ve lost your mind. You see, I really will do anything to avoid my inbox.

Sending you lots of love,

Bryony xx