This year of - so much - is such an opportunity to think about the bigger picture, and how we want to live life going forward. What to keep, what to let go of. What habits we've started that we want to bring with us. And what we're ready to end.
The pandemic definitely put a whole new reality on screen use. First, let's just appreciate it for a moment. How would we have survived the last year without all these techonlogies? But it also accelarated and exacerbated the problem of too much screen. We have to keep asking, when do screens nurture us, and when do they drain?
The new Digital Wellness Lab out of Harvard's Boston's Children Hospital will help answer these questions. I’m on the leadership board of this new lab led by the brilliant Dr. Michael Rich. It will bring together doctors, tech industry, entertainment industry, educators, and more -- in an all-hands-on-deck attempt to answer how our digital environment is affecting our brains, bodies and behaviors, and what we’re going to do about it. We will be doing work together that brings ideas from my book 24/6 into research. You can learn more here.
On March 30, MIT Professor Sherry Turkle (author of the new The Empathy Diaries) and I will be in conversation together at the Commonwealth Club of California. We have been interested in the same questions about humanity and technology for the length of both of our careers, and I admire her mind and thinking very much. You can sign up here.
Lots of films, art, books and more to keep you going until we get to the other side of this. For those of you telling the story of Passover this weekend, may you have a powerful conversation about slavery and freedom.
To love, vaccines, and spring,
Tiffany
P.S. While I was happily awaiting my turn for a vaccine, I heard there were sometimes extra shots being discarded at the end of the day at my local pharmacy. I waited with a book for a couple of hours before closing and sure enough, I got an "extra" that was going to be thrown away. I felt like I got a “miracle ticket” at a Dead show! They even gave me a bright red band-aid that matched my lipstick. Dayenu!
