On giving up control - by Cissy Hu - becoming | more myself

In January, I stopped playing audiobooks and podcasts on 2x, returning to 1x for the first time in years. For a while, I stopped listening to audio altogether and reached for paperbacks instead. In March, I stopped tracking my daily move streak. In April, as a birthday gift to myself, I let go of my carefully curated Readwise streak and obsession with tracking every minute of my day using Toggl. These decisions were ripple effects that emerged after my first 10-day silent meditation retreat nearly a year ago. At the time, it hadn’t dawned on me just how impactful ten days of turning inward would be beyond the ten days itself. No phones, no laptops, no books, no journals. No communication, no streaks to uphold. The experience gave me my first taste of what it meant to return to ourselves in the hustle and bustle of modern day. It served as a forcing function to let go of all my crutches and sit with who I was — and could be — without them, unraveling some of my deepest held beliefs. It

In January, I stopped playing audiobooks and podcasts on 2x, returning to 1x for the first time in years. For a while, I stopped listening to audio altogether and reached for paperbacks instead. In March, I stopped tracking my daily move streak. In April, as a birthday gift to myself, I let go of my carefully curated Readwise streak and obsession with tracking every minute of my day using Toggl. These decisions were ripple effects that emerged after my first 10-day silent meditation retreat nearly a year ago. At the time, it hadn’t dawned on me just how impactful ten days of turning inward wou