Life as we and I know it is hectic. Constant bombardments online telling you what to think, how to live, how terrible things are, and that there is no hope. It’s easy to constantly view the terminal slide into oblivion as something with no solution. Without going into specifics, it feels as though that every minute of every day there is a new development of terrible news ever progressing toward doom. While its easy to blow this off as simple sensationalized political media, the unfortunate reality is that this is real. There are very legitimate threats to the fabric of law that are happening everyday. It can feel like an endless losing battle. But there is little in this world that is truly worth spending time on, and endless political doomscrolling is certainly not one of them.
I believe that being a well informed citizen gives you a power and strength that blissful ignorance will always fail to achieve. I also believe that there is a strong difference between being intentionally well informed, and mindless doomscrolling. “Doomscrolling” – the action of continually scrolling through and reading depressing or worrying content on a social media or news site, especially on a phone. Doomscrolling is a positive feedback loop that only serves to further perpetuate the sense of dread that it seeks to formulate in the first place. The problem with doomscrolling is that it feels productive. Constantly refreshing feeds to find the latest content makes it feel like you are an active participant by constantly internalizing the latest atrocity of breaking news. But realistically, what good does scrolling through hours of angry the comments do for you? The reality is as soon as you put down the phone, you are hit with an intense overstimulation hangover. After you snap back to reality, you realize you have done nothing tangible for yourself. Liking and commenting political news on social media may leave you feeling like an active participant, but you emerge from the fog weak, tired, and angry.
I think the real way to make a change and a difference in the world, is to use your muscles. Weather thats your bodies muscles, or your brain muscles. It takes using your muscles to move your life in a a way that is beneficial to you. keep it simple and just read a page of a book. Walk around the block. Do some pushups. Draw a picture. Drink water. Take 3 deep breathes. Ride your bike. Watch paint dry. Call a friend. Take a nap.
To outline these simple ways to engage almost feels condescending. How could I say that the way to fight the battle and tackle the issues that plague our world is to…meditate? How could an action akin to surrender be the slightest bit helpful? But I truly believe that doing something small is the way to kickstart the agency that you have over your life. Everything going on in the world is much too large to tackle individually. That isn’t to say that we are powerless on our own, but falling into the trap of scrolling for hours MAKES us powerless on our own. Doomscrolling is like a poison that slowly infiltrates your body and leaves you feeling helplessly feeble. When you intentionally step away, take the time to focus on yourself, and pick up the tangible pieces of your life that you have control over, you realize that action is possible, even if small.
Yesterday I finished a book I’ve been reading for a while. It was a really slow read. But after hours upon hours of time reading through the words, page after page, I slowly began immersing myself into the shoes and life of the character in front of me. For a little while, I lived a different life. Became entrenched in prose and the complexity of another perspective. I learned. This was the first book I had finished in a while, but it reminded me of the richness of reading. Reading or running or crocheting or riding your bike or calling a friend or writing in your journal is movement. Momentum. Its a way to snap the pieces of the puzzle together that form your life. You come back from these things stronger. Feeling more whole and more rested and ready to tackle the issues in front of you that you can hold in your hands.
Doomscrolling is a sneaky thing that depletes us of our agency. You start out innocently looking at reels of comedy skits, but before you know it you are entrenched in a world of doom, despair, and hopelessness. The hardest part is that it FEELS important. It gives the illusion of being informed. Real action that builds you up and allows you to grow to be person that can enact meaningful change in the world does not come from doomscrolling. Spend 5-10 minutes reading the news. Read the headlines, read some articles that really interest you, then, put it away. Go live your life. Take a couple deep breathes. Move your body. It’s easy to be sad and hopeless in this world, but it takes some muscle to be joyful. Joy is rebellious.