how to be aware in an unaware world

Tag: attention

Detoxes
“There may be no Wi-Fi in the forest, but I promise you there’s no place you’ll find a better connection.”
A connection with nature, ourselves, and the universe should not be underestimated. The breath of the wild is the same breath in our lungs.
Our uninterrupted connection with nature means an intentional disconnection from the distractions and motions, the fickle affairs of men.
Digital detoxing is defined as purposefully taking time and attention away from screens (Yes, even the work computer screen) so that we can purposefully direct time and attention towards nature, by ourselves, with loved ones, doing anything, or doing nothing.
“Detoxing” from our addicting digital devices is a way to focus on real-life social interactions and connections without distractions.
By forgoing digital devices, for a sustained period of time, we can let go of the stress that stems from that constant connectivity.
Reflection
Our brains are a tricky place to navigate as it is, throw in the bombarding, unregulated stream of social media posts, likes, comments, texts, emails, ads, and alerts, and you have an impossibly confusing maze in your mind.
The average U.S. adult spends around 11 hours each day listening to, watching, reading, interacting with, or being distracted by digital media.
That leaves roughly 5 hours each day away from devices and screens (and boy do those 5 precious hours go by quickly).
The excessive amount of dopamine that our devices channel into our brain leads to an excessive amount of stress hormones (known to be one of the leading causes of aging and cellular degeneration).
In other words, reduce the screen time and increase the nature and community time and you can reduce the stress hormones and increase the amount of time in nature with those you love.
In other, other words, there is a direct relationship between our time spent with technology and our stress levels.
One study found that 70% of participants checked social media on their phones while in bed, which dramatically increased their levels of anxiety, insomnia, sleep duration, and yes, stress.
Hand in hand with mindfulness, more time spent using digital technologies was linked to increased symptoms of ADHD and conduct disorder, as well as worse self-regulation.
Another study suggested that the advent of the internet on smartphones influenced overall job satisfaction, job stress, and feelings of overwork (checking emails well past getting off work).
Comparison can be the thief of joy, and detoxing from our social media connections can be a good way to focus on what’s important in our lives without comparing ourselves to others.
Constant connectivity via our vibrant, viscous phones can feed the fear of missing out or FOMO.
Every time we see an Instagram or TikTok post about someone else’s wonderful and adventurous life, it causes and crazy drop in dopamine, leaving us with feelings of discontent and depression.
We might also find ourselves overcommitting to social events and gatherings out of the fear that we’ll be left out of the experience.
FOMO in our digital lives leads to the infatuation of constantly checking our devices out of fear that we will miss an important text, DM, or post.
Doing a digital detox is one of the most impactful ways to set limits and reduce our fear of missing out. The key is to do it in a way that doesn’t leave us unintentionally stressed and just want to throw our phones off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now, I know this is a hard pill to swallow, and I totally agree that many apps and websites can teach us a more mindful and intentional approach to life.
This process is often more about recognizing the patterns in our relationship with our devices and setting boundaries in a way that benefit, rather than harm, our emotional and mental health.
Encouragement
Once or twice a week, I try my best to practice digital detoxing by going to a park or forest I’m familiar with driving to so I don’t need GPS to get there. All I bring is a hammock, a good book, some snacks, and an open mind.
Each evening, a sacred time to read and set the mind up for deep rest, I will leave my phone and computer in the living room (my Fitbit will wake me up).
Also, through daily meditation practice, I can catch myself pretty quickly when I’ve been caught in rumination or FOMO or doom scrolling or any other side effect
When I find my mind wandering to all the replies and tasks in my digital life (as it inevitably will), I will simply write them down as they come.
No matter the length of our digital detox, a little goes a long way. We are able to create the opposite habit of putting away the phone, coming back to the present, and appreciating nature as it asks us to.
Links
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October 6, 2023
Consumerism
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
– Napoleon Hill
This quote is a stark reminder that the mind is one powerful tool. Bend it one way or another and it can do anything within the confines of modern physics.
For a personal example, I once set off to test and understand my level of discomfort and contentment by becoming a full-blown minimalist and living out of a backpack for at least one year.
Reflection
I reflected a good way into my minimalist self-discovery journey:
Over eight months and thousands of miles later, I now own under thirty items, including a great car that gets me all around this gorgeous country.
My next stop is Ecuador to visit a rekindled friendship from elementary school and explore the many volcanos, caves, and jungles that Ecuador offers.
After that, I will spend some time with dear family and friends in DC before jumping across the pond, as they say in England, to Portugal, and eventually all of southern Spain.
At each spare bedroom or couch, hostel dorm room, or campsite, I let go of something else. Whether it be an article of clothing or a gadget I barely use.
As such, I get to a place of intention, where what I own provides a real sense of purpose and is therefore deeply valued.
But even when something provides both those things now doesn’t mean it will provide it later. That’s when I let go.
What the mind of man can conceive and believe is incredible, and can be quite helpful and constructive.
Take harvesting for example: Farmers work day and night in the field, toiling with their hands and dragging their feet to produce a bountiful and abundant harvest. Through the process, the farmer grows proud of their work and because of it understands the earth and its provisions in great detail.
On the other hand, what the mind of man can conceive and believe is equally incredible, and can be greedy, gluttonous, and costly.
During the Industrial Revolution, man was working towards a future that was better and faster than the previous generation. This conception is called consumerism and it’s factually unsustainable.
Consumerism is both unsustainable for the planet and for human progress, it’s illogical and bewildering really.
And we are wasting such precious human talent on selling more and more and more junk.
I believe we have danced around the seriousness of consumerism for far too long just so we can lay in the comfortable piles of stuff a for little longer.
There is a tangible necessity to redefine capitalism so that it’s both beneficial for us and the planet.
How do we consciously consume without becoming overly dependent on products and their successors?
The company that immediately comes to mind is Apple. It’s a company that I have personally wasted money on my entire adult life.
Do I buy the newest iPhone? Do I upgrade to the newest AirPods? Do I wait until a newer version or do I buy it now?
The amount of time I spend contemplating Apple products and services is honestly ridiculous. My talent is wasted in rumination about a stupid new gadget or gizmo (as my dad calls them).
The fact is, Apple does make great products and services, but there is no need to upgrade every time a new version is released. Doing so costs so much hard-earned money, and more importantly, valuable time.
Apple is no different from any other company born out of capitalism, with majority shareholders, wealthy investors with lots of special interests, and a bottom line for unimpeded growth.
The questions we should be asking ourselves are:
“Does this product or service serve a purpose in my life right now?”
“Does this product or service work just fine in my life right now?”
If our answer is yes, then we can keep and use the product or service until it doesn’t serve a purpose in our lives anymore.
If our answer is no, then we can get creative, try a way to fix it, sell it, or give it to someone who would value it.
These two simple yet powerful questions remind us to come back to what matters, using our many products to fulfill us in some way, and then becoming resourceful in keeping our things in shape.
Another word for this is frugality: A prudent and sparing use or appropriation of anything.
In behavioral science, frugality has been defined as the tendency to acquire goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourceful use of already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer-term goal.
Encouragement
I know this all sounds daunting and difficult but it doesn’t need to be. All it takes is a little reflection, taking note of the things we own, and then deciding to keep them or not.
I encourage us to come back to the present moment, remembering that we already have everything we need to be happy and healthy.
And our capability to be happy and healthy is rooted in mindfulness.
Beyond this is desire, the wanting of the mind.
Remembering this will help alter our relationship with consumerism and clarify our needs.
Resources
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October 2, 2023
Failure
“Every artist was first an amateur.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
What comes to mind when you hear this quote? What constitutes a failure to you?
When I think of failure, I don’t think of how unfortunate and frustrating it is, but rather how helpful it can be.
Failure is defined as the condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends or the condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short.
Failure is a choice that is reinforced as unacceptable by a high-achieving society.
But failure is a beautifully ironic thing. Without it, we would have no success, and yet it’s the last thing we want when pursuing success.
We must accept that we suck at something to ever not suck at something.
And even when we get as far as mastering something, we must be humble enough to act as if we’re still an amateur.
Children are a great example of this. They are amateurs at everything they try. They have seemingly unaffected beginner’s luck. A fresh, new, untainted, unafraid approach that is so beautiful to watch.
They may fail, cry, stamper, and pout, but at least they tried, without much hesitation, and eventually get up, dust themselves off, and try again.
We call it luck when they finally get it right, but it’s not luck, it’s a failure.
It’s like poker. Some play it for the first time and win hand after hand after hand, and the whole table chalks it up to beginner’s luck, but that’s no luck at all.
That’s both having no idea that their cards are the best at the table and playing without much care as to their card’s odds of winning the hand because they didn’t know that those cards made a good hand in the first place.
It’s a childlike carelessness.
Furthermore, never trying things that frighten us is one unhealthy habit to develop.
The fear of failure (or Atychiphobia) is a universal feeling, one that every single person on Earth has and will experience multiple times in their life.
Reflection
“There’s no way I can do that!”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t want to!”
“I’ll never be that good!”
“What’s the use?”
I hear these phrases far too much, people giving up before the fight even begins.
We are selling ourselves short every single time we mutter those words, both inside and outside our heads.
We are selling ourselves short every time we refuse to try something new or retry something old and forgotten.
Forget what you cannot do and there is so much left over that you can.
Over time, that fear of failure will dwindle to but a speck in the mind, and eventually we will come to even seek out failure.
Failure is also different than letting go.
Failure implies that we are unsuccessful at accomplishing something less important to us.
Letting go implies that we are opening space for something more important to us.
It’s a matter of importance.
When something is important enough to you, nine times out of ten you will try over and over and over again to learn it with accuracy.
Encouragement
I encourage you (as I encourage myself each day) to try something new with the expectation that you will fail and to know that failure itself is an essential part of the learning process.
Then, I encourage us to keep that vision we try, over and over and over again.
It can be something as minuscule as a drawing, writing a poem, or cooking a new dish. Or it can be something massive like a trip outside the country, learning a new language, or getting a pilot’s license.
Links
Thank you deeply for your time and attention in reading this post, it is a rare gift these days.
Feel free to comment, like, and share it. You can also support me by Buying Me A Coffee. Thank you in advance!
September 26, 2023