Imprisoned! Locked In An Empty Room For 7 Days
The Toughest Charity Challenge I Can Conceive
It’s Thursday 17th August. 13:43Pm. It’s sunny out. I’ve just played football with my son while my daughter is on a Costa date with her friends. I’m walking home to my fiancé where she and the three boys are waiting for me.
Life is good. It’s comfortable. It’s full of company and laughs, fizzy drinks and takeout food. Awesome TV shows and mind-boggling movies.
But here I am with the sun beating down on the back of my neck, with beads of sweat prickling their way out through my pores, mentally preparing to rip myself away from it all.
Let me explain.
⭐️ IMPRISONED! ⭐️
Starting this sunday night at midnight (so basically Monday morning 00:00) I'm getting locked into an empty room for seven days. I will have no bed, no phone, no TV, no company, no music, no fizzy drinks or takeouts or contact with the outside world.
Why? Well for charity of course! The Mental Health Foundation to be exact. I think the challenge itself will be as positive as it is difficult, least of all the no contact with the outside world part. I will most definitely miss all the kids, my fiancee, my family, and my friends.
However, inside the room I will have a couple stacks of cartridge paper, some pens and pencils, and a mountain of books. For as many restrictions that I have placed on myself, I have also set three very simple requirements.
Requirements:
- 10000 steps
- 500 repetitions of resistence exercise
- 15 pages of journalling/doodling/poetry/fiction.
This 105 page delirium/boredom journal will be published at the end of the event, hopefully raising a little more for charity along the way!
With that said, here are the official rules of my imprisonment.
Room locked from the outside No news from the outside world No talking to anybody Can only drink water No curtains No bed No phone No TV No intimacy No company One pillow One sheet Nothing but books, pens, paper, and a small stack of weights inside the room. Food and drink will be delivered at 6pm every evening, consisting of: a full roast chicken; an apple; a banana; an orange; a tomato; some raw brocolli; a raw carrot; a raw bell pepper; spinach; and 5 litres of water. Nikki (my fiancee AND prison officer) will instruct me to face the wall while delivering said food, so that I can't lay eyes on her or talk to her throughout the event. I'm allowed out of the room (once children and Nikki are downstairs) to perform a number two AND shower in cold water only. Then she will lock me back in without me seeing her. I am to observe silence throughout the seven days. Nikki will release me the following sunday at midnight. (or 00:01 Monday morning.)
Sounds lovely, right?
Throughout this process, I'll be detoxing from dopamine rushes, caffiene, sugar, takeout addiction, food obsession, snacking, social media, and just the all around impulsion to distract ourselves, from ourselves, at every given opportunity.
Without these distractions I expect a rather meditative experience, and I can't wait to bring the results to you all in a like-for-like scan of each of these journal entries. I don't expect it to be easy at all, but I do think its a once in a lifetime opportunity, fitted to a person like me that loves to inflict ridiculous challenges on himself.
Of course I'll be publishing a write-up on my findings and experience once this is all over and done with.
In the meantime, I encourage you all to head over to my Facebook and drop a follow, and please, if you can, donate to the fundraiser (below) so all this is not for nothing. Share the post with your friends if you feel like it. Hell, write about it here on Vocal if you like. You have between now and Sunday to get me for an interview. Any and all help spreading this around is massively appreciated!
You can find me on FACEBOOK HERE.
*shudders* it's getting more and more real with each passing moment!
I’ve created a dedicated Facebook group for the event, and I’ll be posting handwritten notes under the door for Nikki to share there. You can stay up to date with the challenge here: IMPRISONED!
Until next time, wish me luck!
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About the Creator
Gary Ragnarsson
Deep thinker and writer from the UK. I'm sharing everything from philosophical insights to my most intimate, personal stories. From lifestyle hacks to opinion pieces, fiction and more.
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Comments (15)
I respect you for doing this, Gary. Hope you are well.
I hope he is okay. Just putting this here lol.
Brave. Will be interesting to hear your thoughts on the other side. Good luck!
Far out! Should be interesting! Thanks for sharing your challenge. 😊
I wish I have the nerve to do this. Even for a day.
You are brave to do this. I will eagerly wait for your reports of this experience.
I wish I was on my phone so I could put the shocked face emoji here. You are a good person to be willing to do this and for such a great cause too. Mental health is so important and I am glad it is being recognized. I hope it all goes well.
That sounds FASCINATING Gary! I am pumped for ya and so pleased that this made Top Story! I took a vow of silence earlier this year and it was wonderfully cathartic. I believe you will come out with greater clarity in your perspective. Rooting for you!
Okay, I'm intrigued...
You are a much better person that I could be. While I enjoy my privacy, I use my computer daily to write, edit photos I've taken, and correspond with friends and family. I go to the gym three times a week. At night, my husband and I share dinner (although we rarely talk through it). We'll put on the TV and THEN he decided to hold conversations. But seven days of completely isolation? I know in my heart, you are the better person. I hope you will consider put your daily journal on Vocal. I'd love to read it.
Wow this is INTENSE! I look forward to reading your journal at the end!
Gary- could you edit this to include the link to your Facebook page? Or maybe make that a link on your Vocal profile?
Consider this 'Top Story' selection as Vocal holding you accountable. Looking forward to what you come up with.
Back to say, well done and congrats on a fine Top Story.
Oh dear. Or oh my. or oh boy. I am not entirely sure! But, I can't wait to read the results. Well done on doing such an interesting thing for a worthy cause. I wish you well with this, remember you are made of Viking blood. Ass-Guardian.