Introducing The Daily Ground

Developing a daily practice to reclaim the human in a hyper-digital world

We may live in a world where our devices are a necessary part of life, but we don’t have to let them become an addiction. There are concrete steps we can take for ourselves, our family, and as a society to honor our physical selves again and wrest control away from digital dependence.

This is why I’m launching “The Daily Ground” – a framework for reclaiming our humanity in the digital age. It’s not about rejecting technology outright but establishing a healthier relationship with it. The name reflects both what we need to do (ground ourselves in physical reality) and the daily practices required to maintain this balance.

The Daily Ground approach is built on four interconnected pillars:

Grounding The Mind

The first step in prying ourselves free of this digital addiction is awareness. Being mindful of what companies are doing to hook us every time we pick up our device, and why, lessens their power over us. The more we understand how dopamine works, the more we can recognize the “itchy feeling” when it comes. We can learn to acknowledge the urge, and either choose to engage with technology, or choose not to, but out of choice not reflex. We can consciously learn to heal our brains, and reset our own neural pathways. Ultimately, it’s up to us, companies won’t do it.

Grounding The Body

Our physical existence – sensation, movement, rest – provides the foundation for a meaningful life. Yet many of us spend more time tending to our digital avatars than our actual bodies. Simple practices like a morning and evening “reset”, mindful breathing and eating, regular movement breaks, and sensation awareness can begin to repair this disconnection.

Grounding With Nature

The natural world operates on rhythms fundamentally different from the megahertz pace of digital life. Regular immersion in nature – whether walking through a park, gardening, or simply watching clouds pass – recalibrates our nervous systems and provides perspective that no screen can offer.

Grounding Our Communities

Like it or not, we are a social species. Perhaps the greatest irony of social media is how it actually isolates us from genuine human connection. You may have thousands of “friends” online, but how many will meet you for a beer? Even finding actual spaces to meet others can be challenging. Many of us live in neighborhoods designed for the convenience of cars, not people. Reimagining our neighborhoods to add welcoming, conversational public spaces to encourage natural, device-free human interaction could help balance the de facto loneliness of digital life. Creating and valuing communal spaces again: park benches and chairs, town gazebos, plazas and piazzas, fountains with steps, neighborhood pubs, beer gardens, outdoor movie nights, even sitting on front porches and stoops — all provide opportunities to encounter our neighbors, to chat or just “hang out”.

Continuing The Journey

In the coming weeks, I’ll explore each of these areas with practical strategies, personal experiments, and evidence-based approaches for implementing them. My hope is that “The Daily Ground” becomes not just a collection of personal essays but a community of practice – people committed to staying human in an increasingly automated world, finding balance together rather than struggling alone.

If you’d like to follow my journey, join me on terrymarr.com/thedailyground.