Hey there!
It’s me Sonia Boué and I’m back in the blogosphere with my new blog Neurowilding. I used to blog about being autistic at The Other Side.
Neurowilding is different. Slow making has brought about an internet detox, ignited a new creative passion and a feeling I’ve reconnected. A process of rewiring my relationship with life online. Neurowilding follows on from my Neurophototherapy Project. This is my next step and I’m very excited.
Neurowilding is a project in development and this first blog post captures its genesis.
Unplugging to Recharge
Why Neurowilding matters…
We’re all distracted by our phones. Paying attention to our surroundings is just less of a thing. We’re hyper-connected but we’ve lost something. Notifications can ping 24/7 if we want them to. And who hasn’t scrolled while walking along, tutting at the cyclists speeding on the pavement checking their phones!
It feels like we’re sleepwalking through our lives, not to mention the trip hazards! What’s it doing to our minds?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved every iPhone I’ve ever had. But I’ve got to admit that my beloved iPhone also fuels my paranoia. And this is my dilemma. I need connection but I’m unhappy online.
My experience of Neurowilding has brought about a profound sense of transformation. I found an echo of my past life in the space and the silence. Neurowilding is about just this. I want to dive deeper and completely rewire my online life.
Social media junkie
Why social media mattered so much…
I joined Twitter 2011. Before long I was a social media junkie. At the zenith Twitter was a thing of wonder. I’m not sure I would I have discovered that I’m autistic without it. But I’ve been slipping away for some time. Instagram is where I’ve been most active in recent years. As an artist it’s provided a major platform for my work.
My online life was everything to me, but a detox was brewing. In the end, I fell in love with something I can only do offline. Creative work so compelling that I went off grid and back in time. A time before smartphones.
Even Instagram faded away.
Getting Cozy with Wool
Finding a new passion offline…
I’ve been up to my armpits in sheep’s wool learning how to do something new. A novelty and a challenge are what make me tick. And I have been making work in a new form for a commission.
I’ve been swimming in wool – processed yarns and unwashed raw wool. It’s been smelly and I can almost hear the sheep bleating. Yeah. I like to get right inside whatever the new thing is that I’m learning to do. Some call this immersive learning. In autistic circles it’s known as a new ‘special interest’. And the buzz is like no other.
Finding flow
So, what have I been making?
One hundred small woollen sculptures (pom-poms), to be exact. For three whole months, this is how I’ve rolled, immersing myself in a new world, learning a new niche skill. Morning till night, winding wool on pom-pom frames and trimming the hours away, snip, snip, snip. Cajoling these wayward forms into shape has been my daily bread.
Repetitive? Hell, yeah. We have a word for this too, stimming. Here it refers to a deeply satisfying repetitive action. For me, pom-pom making is soothing, self-regulating and restorative – somewhere between a meditation and a prayer.
My screen world melted away. Each day I entered a state of flow. And by the time my work was done I found I’d rewired my muscle memory. I had emptied my mind of likes and comments, no longer craving those dopamine hits.
Getting Back into Books
Finding I can focus…
Another thing happened. I rediscovered reading. And I don’t mean online articles and audio books. I’ve swallowed entire pages whole and remembered myself as a reader of books. This feels like knowing myself of old, my iPhone now often forgotten. I’d rather hold a book and turn its pages.
Why did this take so long, where did the last decade go? I simply can’t tell you. But this detox has been next level.
They Stole My Attention!
Making sense of it all…
I’m making sense of it all by reading Johann Hari’s book Stolen Focus. Finding this book at this time has felt uncanny. I’ve found a framework for Neurowilding. Hari has done the research and what he found really matters.
It explains why we can’t pay attention and how to think deeply again. For neurodivergent people this is a vexed topic. There are passages about ADHD in Hari’s book which I find sticky and, at times, unhelpful. But we do often face extra cognitive challenges. Neurowilding steps into this zone with a loving heart.
Stolen Focus is otherwise a striking exposé of the greed and dishonesty of tech companies like Apple, Meta and Google. Hari argues they’ve made a commodity of our attention and done so in ways that are damaging to us. We’ve known it in our bones but what was to be done? Everything is online.
As Hari unpicks the model behind our smartphones, apps and social media platforms, the bile rises. We’ve been hoodwinked. Behaviourally programmed technology has been designed to keep us hooked for profit.
What I love is that Hari shares his own struggle with online addiction. If you read it, you won’t look at your smartphone in the same way.
Let’s Do Something!
Reclaiming the ‘net…
There’s an irony to sharing my blog posts online. But there is also a strength to it. My detox can’t ever be total or forever. Being online is a lifeline and I need to reclaim it – by doing it my way.
I’d also love to know your views. Here’s to more Neurowilding x
See you next time…
Summary
Neurowilding is a new project about rewiring my online life. An internet detox helped me reconnect and find a new passion offline. Addiction is baked into the tech that runs our devices and social media sites. Johann Hari’s book Stolen Focus helped me make sense of how I regained my focus and ability to think deeply.
Neurowilding 
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