Self-medicating is the use of alcohol or drugs, or any external influence, to manage our physical and psychological afflictions. Almost anything used in excess to deal with or escape negative emotions can be considered self-medicating. Self-medicating is often harmful because we tend to go for negative things: We have a drink or three, light a cigarette, eat in excess, and most commonly, endlessly scroll through our social media feeds But, what if we instead self-medicated with art to banish our boredom and anxiety? Art provides a diverse range of activities that can help us express our imaginations and deepest selves. There is a reason art therapy, a creative method of expression used as a therapeutic technique, is gaining momentum. Changing the way we view our negative habits and replacing them with artistic endeavours can be a powerful way to maintain our psychological well-being.
(more…)Category: Leisure
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How to fill our days
Busyness is a badge of honour in a capitalist society that constantly nudges us to be productivity machines.
The result is “the burdensome, expectation-freighted nature of free time.” Every moment in the day is expected to be filled with endless tasks, no matter how meaningless, just so we can justify our value to the economy. Busyness, with never-ending responsibilities and tasks to be accomplished, has been turned into a badge of honour to signals to others how important we are. For most of us, however, our busyness is a facade. Not much of the time we spend frantically moving from one task to another is actually spent on productive and/or fulfilling activities. Most of our busyness is busyness for busyness sake. To compete in the Busyness Olympics, sporting events include, who got the least sleep last night, who have had the most amount of coffee today (and it’s only 11:05 AM *gasp*), and who had a busier weekend filled with activities one couldn’t possibly fit within a 48-hour period. If we take a step back, however, it becomes painfully obvious to see how devoid of genuine usefulness or meaning most of the activities we engage in are. How do I feel so busy, so anxious and stressed all the time yet do not have anything truly meaningful to show for it?
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Digital minimalism: A philosophy of technology use
In Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport, Newport defines digital minimalism as “a philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.” There are three core principles of digital minimalism:
- Principle #1: Clutter is costly. Cluttering our time and attention with too many devices, apps, and screen time cost us our productivity, real-life connections, creativity and the pursuit of a well-developed leisure life.
- Principle #2: Optimization is important. Figure out how to use technology to best support the things that you value.
- Principle #3: Intentionality is satisfying. “Digital minimalists derive significant satisfaction from their general commitment to being more intentional about how they engage with new technologies.”
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Laugh or log off
Once upon a time, a fan accused Rihanna of being insensitive for a meme she shared on her Instagram. Rihanna responded with, “laugh or log off.” Discovering this gem reminded me another tweet from Tyler, The Creator:” “Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Cyber Bullying Real Hahahaha Nigga Just Walk Away From The Screen Like Nigga Close Your Eyes Haha.” Without minimizing the issue of cyber-bullying, Tyler, The Creator had a point that completely changed the way I viewed my relationship with social media and the internet in general: Nobody is forcing me to engage in online activities that create negative emotions and experiences, so why do I do it? This question led me to quit social media for three years and the news since 2016; a choice that has worked out really well for me.
Laugh or log off.
It can be very empowering to engage with the digital space in a lighthearted manner. There is no denying the negativity that exists online. There’s also so much positivity. It is up to us to choose carefully the content we consume online. You don’t have to engage with every information available online. Just because it’s there doesn’t mean it deserves your attention. Inspired by Taylor, The Creator and Rihanna’s tweets, I have significantly minimized consuming content that evokes negative emotions or reactions. When I come across such content, I simply scroll past or close the tab. If it’s not bringing me positive feels, I log off. I also have been actively searching for positive content online. That’s how I discovered the subreddit /r/wholesomememes, a community for those searching for a way to capture virtue on the Internet: Yes, good things happen on Reddit too. We can either demonize the internet, or we can use it to add positivity to our lives.
Your choice; choose wisely.
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Cultivating high-quality alternatives to digital distractions
Once upon a time, a high school student tells a group of peers and adults that she has deleted all her social media accounts for an unspecified period of time. The reason is she’s spending too much time on social media and comparing herself to her peers online. Everyone nods in agreement relating to the reasons she listed for her decision. “What do you do instead?!” one peer asks ludicrously. We all laugh. Another time, I’m hanging out with my niece and nephew. I’m also doing laundry. They ask me persistently, “are we going back to the laundry room? are we going back to the laundry room?” The whole time, they don’t take their eyes off the game they’re playing on their devices. Uninterrupted, they spend hours playing games online, especially if the alternative sucks: Doing nothing is torture. Why do nothing if they can easily pick up their iPads and find unlimited entertainment? Yet, when the opportunity presents itself, they abandon their games for the adventure of taking the elevator two floors up to the laundry room for all but two minutes. Such mundane activity is entertaining enough that they would momentarily pause their game for it— It helps that I’m their favourite aunty.
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Going analog in a digital world
There is a prevailing idea in the digital wellness realm that seems the most convincing to curb our internet addiction: Quit the digital world all together. Quit social media. Quit the Internet. Quit your smartphone. And my most recent favourite, Donald Knuth, a famous computer scientist who have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when [he] no longer had an email address. What a luxury! Yet, such drastic measures for life-tech balance isn’t always realistic or desirable for everyone, nor does it need to be so extreme. For the past few weeks, I have been implementing two simple adjustments to my days that have resulted in less time spent online: cooking intuitively and paper journaling. Best part? I don’t have to sacrifice the convenience, ease, and connection the digital world provides me by completely forgoing the internet.
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Read a book instead
Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions hoping to spark positive changes in their lives. Reading is one of the most popular resolutions for many people, including myself, and for very good reasons: Reading puts our brain to work. It involves several brain functions, including visual and auditory processes, phonemic awareness, fluency and comprehension. Reading increases our attention spans, focus and concentration, and it stimulates our mental processes that help preserve our memory skills as we age.
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3 practical tips to read more books every year
The benefits of reading are countless and impressive. Reading involves several of our brain functions, including visual and auditory processes, phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension. In doing so, it increases our attention spans, focus, and concentration, and stimulates our mental processes that help us preserve our memory skills as we grow older. In other words, reading puts our brain to work. When I first became serious about (re)discovering the pleasures of the offline world, reading for leisure as an alternative to digital entertainment was the first activity I took on seriously. Throughout the years, and many, many, many books later, I have learned three practical tips to make reading an immensely enjoyable activity, and not just another to-do item on the list.
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Demons hate fresh air
I read Austin Kleon’s Keep Going: 10 Rules for Staying Creative in Good Times and Bad for the third time this year.
It’s that good.
Kleon is one of my favourite writers and bloggers; when I discovered him earlier last year, I read his blog all the way back to 2012 and devoured four of his books in quick succession.
His work is terrific and inspiring, with timeless advice for readers.
I came across the quote demons hate fresh air in Keep Going and it has stuck with me ever since:
(more…)No matter what time you get out of bed, go for a walk and then work, [Ingmar Bergman] would say, because the demons hate it when you get out of bed, demons hate fresh air.
time spent offline 