The neurodivergent input bulk is for real. Loved this! Those blissful days that actually put you in the present and in nature are something I need more of too!
Thank you! I hope you find some good analog days yourself. Would you link your awesome article on the internet as the ‘other world’ and the bizarre and complex experiences it layers onto our ‘real’ and ‘inner’ worlds?
I agree that the whole thing is, or at least has become, toxic. Today I went blackberry picking. There were a lot of them, because nobody else is picking them (although to be fair, when it's mushroom season the Spanish do get very busy indeed).
Anyway I've always been really careful with social media on my phone. No FB, Twitter or Insta on there. I have Telegram and Signal, with notifications enabled only for people I already know. Oh yeah, and Substack, but all notifications disabled, so I have to consciously open the app to check it. I use WhatsApp for work but on the computer only.
I look at the news headlines every few days, just to keep vaguely aware of that perspective (and it is just one perspective, of course: what constitutes 'news'). Never watch tv, only listen to radio programmes as podcasts. I do watch quite a bit of YouTube but with ad blockers and not during the day.
I will sometimes take a complete break from social media and not look at it for several weeks but recently I just haven't felt the need, I look at it for only a few minutes a day so right now it doesn't feel like a problem.
As extensive as that selection is, it sounds like you’re on top of balance. I’m still working on it at day 9!
I envy the Berry access, although I’m sure I could find wild patches around here somewhere. I often question what the heck could have been sprayed on them, if not directly like aerial pest control chemicals, then indirectly like all the glyphosate runoff since everyone here goes nuts for useless monoculture football field grass lawns w fertilizer.
We have a mulberry bush on our property but the little red squirrels are so plentiful and possessive that they claimed them faster than I could pick them ripe, I think I got 3 or 4! It’s their food, so I know my place.
where I lived before we had to be eagle-eyed with the apples, because once they started falling off the trees, the wild boar would immediately come and eat them. And I mean immediately, they would be all gone in a couple of days if we hadn't picked them in time. Never anything left on the ground.
You and me both, Guy! The Himalayan blackberries are super invasive here in Oregon, but at least they provide us with sweet goodness. The thorns are vicious, though. Anyway, I enjoyed hearing about how you manage screen time/content.
Valerie! So proud of you for taking action to protect your valuable vision and creativity. The Muse works in mysterious ways that often require a “digital detox” and a return to nature and practical tasks. Although I am not on any Meta product and have never been on TwiX (I can’t help smushing old/new together), I was a fiend about certain YouTube channels/podcasts until quite recently. Something shifted. I got sick of listening to others instead of my inner voice. Plus, I need a lot of time to integrate new information, and often have to listen to things twice. Turning on the spigot of new content non-stop left me feeling anxious and hollow, even when that content was important-to-me/laudable/uplifting. Addiction to hyper-novelty is a thing. I really dislike the feeling of falling behind or being out of the loop, yet the world conspires to make us feel this way, constantly. It’s time to take back our hearts and minds as you are doing. I wish you well in this experiment and look forward to your report!
Dear Erin, I have to say…today I am like a caged animal lashing out, a bit crazed, checking my phone even more, screen time is actually up…I have to set tighter parameters. Figuring it out rn. Dopamine addiction is very real and very powerful.
Omg, YES that dopamine cycling is so, so hard to counteract. I hear you and feel despondent at times as I realize that my very posture is changing due to screens. Our limbic systems have been hijacked and we are in a straight-up withdrawal every time we enact rules and set boundaries with ourselves. It’s like internal parenting followed by teen rebellion! So please go easy on yourself, sister. These devices are *designed* to be addictive. Recognizing this is powerful in and of itself.
Ahh, thank you! I will be gentle. I’ll surely get into it more, but it’s the reality that even the apps themselves can’t satisfy me, that they are masking needs in me/us that are deeply unmet and ragingly sorrowful.
The neurodivergent input bulk is for real. Loved this! Those blissful days that actually put you in the present and in nature are something I need more of too!
Thank you! I hope you find some good analog days yourself. Would you link your awesome article on the internet as the ‘other world’ and the bizarre and complex experiences it layers onto our ‘real’ and ‘inner’ worlds?
I agree that the whole thing is, or at least has become, toxic. Today I went blackberry picking. There were a lot of them, because nobody else is picking them (although to be fair, when it's mushroom season the Spanish do get very busy indeed).
Anyway I've always been really careful with social media on my phone. No FB, Twitter or Insta on there. I have Telegram and Signal, with notifications enabled only for people I already know. Oh yeah, and Substack, but all notifications disabled, so I have to consciously open the app to check it. I use WhatsApp for work but on the computer only.
I look at the news headlines every few days, just to keep vaguely aware of that perspective (and it is just one perspective, of course: what constitutes 'news'). Never watch tv, only listen to radio programmes as podcasts. I do watch quite a bit of YouTube but with ad blockers and not during the day.
I will sometimes take a complete break from social media and not look at it for several weeks but recently I just haven't felt the need, I look at it for only a few minutes a day so right now it doesn't feel like a problem.
As extensive as that selection is, it sounds like you’re on top of balance. I’m still working on it at day 9!
I envy the Berry access, although I’m sure I could find wild patches around here somewhere. I often question what the heck could have been sprayed on them, if not directly like aerial pest control chemicals, then indirectly like all the glyphosate runoff since everyone here goes nuts for useless monoculture football field grass lawns w fertilizer.
We have a mulberry bush on our property but the little red squirrels are so plentiful and possessive that they claimed them faster than I could pick them ripe, I think I got 3 or 4! It’s their food, so I know my place.
great you've got red squirrels, I love them!
where I lived before we had to be eagle-eyed with the apples, because once they started falling off the trees, the wild boar would immediately come and eat them. And I mean immediately, they would be all gone in a couple of days if we hadn't picked them in time. Never anything left on the ground.
You and me both, Guy! The Himalayan blackberries are super invasive here in Oregon, but at least they provide us with sweet goodness. The thorns are vicious, though. Anyway, I enjoyed hearing about how you manage screen time/content.
A perfect metaphor for life! The sweet berry rewards and the utmost care to avoid, yet inevitable pick of the sharps. What a dance
Valerie! So proud of you for taking action to protect your valuable vision and creativity. The Muse works in mysterious ways that often require a “digital detox” and a return to nature and practical tasks. Although I am not on any Meta product and have never been on TwiX (I can’t help smushing old/new together), I was a fiend about certain YouTube channels/podcasts until quite recently. Something shifted. I got sick of listening to others instead of my inner voice. Plus, I need a lot of time to integrate new information, and often have to listen to things twice. Turning on the spigot of new content non-stop left me feeling anxious and hollow, even when that content was important-to-me/laudable/uplifting. Addiction to hyper-novelty is a thing. I really dislike the feeling of falling behind or being out of the loop, yet the world conspires to make us feel this way, constantly. It’s time to take back our hearts and minds as you are doing. I wish you well in this experiment and look forward to your report!
Dear Erin, I have to say…today I am like a caged animal lashing out, a bit crazed, checking my phone even more, screen time is actually up…I have to set tighter parameters. Figuring it out rn. Dopamine addiction is very real and very powerful.
Omg, YES that dopamine cycling is so, so hard to counteract. I hear you and feel despondent at times as I realize that my very posture is changing due to screens. Our limbic systems have been hijacked and we are in a straight-up withdrawal every time we enact rules and set boundaries with ourselves. It’s like internal parenting followed by teen rebellion! So please go easy on yourself, sister. These devices are *designed* to be addictive. Recognizing this is powerful in and of itself.
Ahh, thank you! I will be gentle. I’ll surely get into it more, but it’s the reality that even the apps themselves can’t satisfy me, that they are masking needs in me/us that are deeply unmet and ragingly sorrowful.