I am so happy to be dropping this story in your inbox today.
You should know right away that this episode is not about disavowing technology use or cutting ourselves off from the world. What a terrible way to market a podcast or send an email that, chances are, you’re currently reading from your phone.
Its Hannah’s story and I can promise you that she’s a breath of fresh air in the conversation around balancing our technology use. Her book The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World is the fruit of simply responding to a nudge from God to put her phone away one day. It’s about living our lives awake to God’s movement in the world rather than chasing content.
“You’ll have missed out on nothing, but gained something back instead: a piece of your time, a tiny sliver of your life. This is how your story will unfold—slowly one hour at a time.”
Since I finished her book, I’ve practiced putting my phone in a drawer for a little bit in the afternoons. It’s not much. I can still hear it when it pings. I know it’s there. But this small gesture has become an exercise in being present—to my kids, to my home, to myself, and to the small stirrings inside my own heart and mind that seem to say this is the way…
I hope you’ll consider listening to this today and even more that you’ll consider reading Hannah’s new book. It’s so balanced and wise. In the great irony of writing about limiting content consumption whilst promoting it, I’m going out on a limb here to say this one is worth your time.
Find Hannah at hannahbrencher.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Prefer to listen elsewhere? 🎧 Find the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Hannah Brencher & The Unplugged Hours