Taking a Day Off from Having an Opinion

“Take a day off from having an opinion.” Emma Gannon – Disconnected: How to Stay Human in an Online World

Sit with that sentence. Does this challenge excite you or scare you? Does it seem super easy or super hard? Do you want to try it, or do you wish others would try it?

Opinions are exhausting. To have an opinion, we must:

1. Have an experience
2. Formulate an opinion
3. Find mental space to hold the opinion

But #1, have an experience, is happening all the time.

As I write this, I’m sitting at the kitchen table of an Airbnb in Vermont, drinking coffee from a French press, eating dairy-free Greek yogurt, and listening to Spotify’s “Cozy Dinner Mix” playlist. At first glance, my breakfast experience feels like fertile ground for opinions:

1. Do I like this Airbnb?
2. Do I like coffee from a French press?
3. What do I think of dairy-free yogurt?
4. Is this playlist any good?

And my opinions are:

1. I love this Airbnb
2. The French press is good but I don’t feel strongly about it
3. Dairy-free yogurt tastes OK if you add mix-ins (cocoa powder, always)
4. Some of these songs are great and I’ll move them to another playlist

If I go a click deeper, though, I’m forming opinions on a larger scale, like whether or not I enjoy a more suburban life with a fireplace and a grand entrance, whether or not dairy-free living makes me feel better, if I should open myself to different styles of preparing morning coffee and what kind of music inspires me and calms me in the morning. I am taking my opinions and incorporating them into my overall sense of being.

What would going a whole day without opinions look like? Would I eat all of my meals just as sustenance achieved instead of noting it was “tasty lunch” or an “amazingly weird girl dinner”? Would I get out of a meeting and spend zero time thinking about whether it was a good use of time? Would I try a new workout class and just leave at the end, not deciding if I liked it enough to return? Almost seems impossible, yet I feel drawn to trying it.

To take a day off from having an opinion, I need to orient around the idea that my life is generally great. Today is a great day. I’m alive. I have amazing friends and family. I love the career I’ve built for myself. I have access to delicious food. I can move my body. I have a roof over my head, my home filled with reminders of amazing places I’ve been. I can afford this Airbnb that has delicious French press coffee that I can drink alongside one of several yogurt options available to me, while listening to all different kinds of music.

To take a day off from having an opinion is to greet the day with a feeling of contentment. Can you go through the day feeling like just having the day checked off is enough of a smile?

I know that not a day will go by that I won’t form at least one opinion, if not seventy. But Emma’s challenge is optional—and still offers a takeaway we should all consider: you don’t need to have an opinion about everything. It’s OK for something to exist without your reaction. Make space in your brain for thoughts that guide you to the best version of you and your life. Let other thoughts drift away.