Wednesday, August 22, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Grant
helped
festival
offer free
concerts
The Sisters Folk Festival
wrapped up its series of
free summer concerts on
Thursday, August 16, with
a performance by interna-
tional music superstars Altan
on the Fir Street Park stage
in Sisters. The shows were
made possible by a cultural
development grant from
Oregon Cultural Trust.
The series was also
sponsored in part by
First Interstate Bank,
Deschutes County Board
of
Commissioners
Discretionary Fund and the
City of Sisters.
The shows drew big
crowds of music-lovers from
across Central Oregon.
“It is extremely gratify-
ing to have the ability to
fund more of the amazing
cultural projects happening
across our great state,” said
Chuck Sams III, chair of the
Cultural Trust board. “We
are incredibly grateful to our
donors and excited by the
increased access this fund-
ing will provide to ensure
active and culturally vibrant
communities.”
“We really feel that, with
this year’s series, we are
offering three distinct cultural
traditions: bluegrass, Cajun
and Celtic, which exemplify
a broad swath of the music
that Americana represents,”
said SFF Development
Director Steven Remington.
“The support of the Oregon
Cultural Trust validates the
work SFF does year-round to
promote Americana music.”
For more information on
Sisters folk Festival, visit
www.sistersfolkfestival.org.
15
Techniques for happier screen time
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
Are you mired in Facebook
depression, falling down rab-
bit holes of political news,
losing sleep to Netflix and
YouTube? Are Snapstreaks
and Epic Tavern more impor-
tant than exercising or keep-
ing your grades up? Yeah,
you’ve got a problem. Even
if it connects you with friends
faraway, even if following
the play-by-play of Russian
investigations makes you feel
like a good citizen — excess
device engagement drains
your energy, time, and per-
spective. It’s hard to connect
with real people or make posi-
tive political change without
those precious resources.
The folks who design
social media technologies
and program addictive news
call it “hijacking your brain.”
Here are a few techniques for
reclaiming it.
Reduce Visibility
Out of sight, out of mind.
When you’re on a diet, do
you leave a candy dish on the
counter? No, you’re too smart
for that. Find a dark cubby-
hole where you can plug in
your phone, and leave it there
except when you really need it.
Out in public or at home
with family, pretend your
phone habit is like a drug
problem. Gotta do it? Don’t
flaunt it. If enough people take
this approach, our kids (and
their grownups) will no longer
think that glueing yourself to a
screen and ignoring the world
around you is normal and
acceptable.
Take the “Wait Until 8th”
Pledge
Worried that your kid
will be the only one without
an iPhone? Worry no more.
Parents across America are
signing the pledge to keep
their kids off smartphones
until eighth grade or later.
(Flip phones and other basic
phones for emergencies are
still OK.) Register at www.
waituntil8th.org and fill in
your school’s info, or type
in “Homeschool” for school
name and Sisters 97759
for the city/ZIP. Encourage
friends to sign up, too.
Schedule a “Digital
Sabbath”
No, that doesn’t mean
streaming Ozzy every Sunday.
In many religious traditions,
people take a weekly Sabbath
Day for rest and reflection.
For the non-religious, that
might look more like walk-
ing along Whychus Creek
with a friend. Sit down with
your family and agree to try
one day a week offline, for a
month. Plan ahead to avoid
logistical hassles. If a full day
is too difficult, start smaller.
Write a promise to each other,
sign it, and hang it on your
fridge. For example: “Sundays
from noon onward, we’ll stay
off our devices.”
Turn Off Notifications
To foil the corporations
who are making money off
your state of distraction, go
into your device’s settings.
Find notifications and turn
them off. Now when you look
at your device’s face, it won’t
show you a million things you
ought to be concerned about
right now. Want to know
whether track practice is run-
ning late? Click on your text
message app and see if the
coach texted. Try not to read
all those other, irrelevant texts
alongside it.
Try a Bummer Break
Pick the media that’s bum-
ming you out most. Resolve to
stay off it for a big chunk of
time — a month, if you can; if
not, try 10 days. It takes more
than a couple days to come
out of the haze. Don’t replace
your Bummer with a differ-
ent game or app. Instead, find
a real-life activity you can do
when you’re bored or stressed
(drinking doesn’t count). Ask
friends and family to be sup-
portive for this short period of
time.
Learn from Cheating
Suppose you try to dis-
engage — and find yourself
slipping. First, know that
you’re not alone. Habits are
tough to break, and these
technologies are intentionally
engineered to cause addic-
tive behaviors. Keep a little
notebook on-hand to jot down
notes about when you “cheat”
and why. (Your notebook is
also a handy replacement for
grocery lists, etc., instead of
having them on your distract-
ing phone.) Note, especially,
your mood. Were you hungry,
bored, stressed, tired, or sad?
Which app or notification
hooked you in? Read through
later on; patterns will emerge.
Find out what triggers your
worst screen-zombie habits.
Get Some Help
In the Wild West we like
to think we’re independent
cusses. But there’s no shame
in helping a neighbor round
up stray cattle. No shame in
barn-raising and potlucks.
No shame in talking to
your doctor, pastor, or a coun-
selor, either. Most bad habits
play on our traumas and inse-
curities, relationship troubles
and the stress of everyday life
(not to mention deep existen-
tial angst). No need to navi-
gate all that alone.
Here in Sisters, pro-
fessional therapy is avail-
a b l e f r o m A u d r y Va n
Houweling, M.N., of She
Soars Psychiatry, who takes
an integrative approach; Dr.
George Mecouch, D.O., with
a Jungian-focused practice;
and Brianna Morzov, LCSW,
of Sacred Space Counseling,
who offers EMDR therapy.
Reach out if you need to.
There’s more to come in The
Nugget’s ongoing series about
digital media, nature, and our
health. Email your tips and
tricks for moderating screen
time. If you give our tips a try,
we’re interested in hearing
how it goes. We can keep your
real name out of the paper.
Email freelance writer T. Lee
Brown, tiffany@plazm.com.
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