Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how I don't like the way that society is going with social media. I don't like that technology has gone from being a useful tool for specific tasks to something people are addicted to and rely on for any tiny convenience. I don't think everything should be convenient. And I don't think access to everything with technology is good.
I don't think the 24 hour news cycle is good. I think most "news" is just biased, sensationalized, garbage that is just meant to keep people attached to their phones/computers, angry at everyone else, and distracted from the real world and people around them. The amount of stress this cycle has on the body is unmatched. Your body can't tell the difference between something harmful in your local area and something harmful 2000 miles away.
I don't think it's good to have your phone attached to you at all times. All it does is distract you from reality, and it's terrible for your eyes and brain. I don't like that everyone is seemingly accessible all the time. I don't like that people are glued to scrolling through apps rather than experiencing life around them. I don't like that people equate online "friends" with real in-person relationships. I think it's giving people more anxiety, stress, and restlessness than what is normal. I think it is slowly leading society to devalue things in the real world, real companionship, realy natural beauty, and real contentment.
Social media may have begun with good intentions... intentions of bringing people together when they couldn't be in person. Providing community where there was distance. Making it convenient to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances. But it spun well out of proportion, and now people are neglecting the real world around them, they are losing in-person connection in favor of internet friend counts and likes, and they are comparing their entire lives to everyone else's life highlights.
I don't think we were meant to know the news a state or country over from ours (at least not on the daily). I don't think we were meant to be accessible by everyone all the time. I don't think we were meant to have computers in our pockets to keep us from having to use critical thinking. And I do think that is what is happening. People are no longer letting themselves get bored, letting their minds wander. It's inhibiting the mass populations ability to critically think and to figure things out on their own. It's taking our time away, and it's making people lose sight of the beautiful world around them.
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| This is not our home. It was an image pulled from the internet, and I am pretty sure it's AI. Just a reminder that most of what you see online nowadays isn't even real anyway... |
Anyway, here are some things that my husband and I are going to try at home to help us get off this ridiculous roller coaster, and get back to living like it's the 1990s:
Very Limited Technology Use - We are going to have a spot in the kitchen where our cell phones will "live" so that we are not constanlty scrolling on them. We will leave our computers in the office to use when we need them. No more taking technology around the house with us so that we are distracted from living real life. Obviously, not having your phone attached to you 24/7 is going to lead to the return of some old beloved items you may have forgotten about... mainly, a radio/cd/tape player, an actual camera, real board/card games, magazines/cataloges in the bathroom, regular alarm clock by the bed, etc. We are looking forward to having these back in our lives for a slower paced, less blue-light, way of home life. (I like the idea of getting a landline to use for the phone at home, as well.) The goal here is to make your phone and laptop/tablet more INCONVENIENT so that you don't just reach for it all the time. The second goal is to have this trickle into life outside the home... *
Cozy and Inviting Environment - Long gone are the days of bland monochrome decor. We are bringing back colorful furniture, different textiles, and soft lighting (no LEDs). We want our home to be easy on our eyes, and kind to our brains/bodies. We want a cozy, lived-in, comfortable home that reflects our personal tastes, without worrying about whether anyone else would like it or if it would be considered "desireable" on social media. Colorful walls, mismatched items we thrifted or were given, non-aesthetic photos on the walls, etc. We want our home to reflect us, and no one else. We aren't trying to "keep up with the Joneses," we are just trying to be happy in our home.*
Out-of-the-House Activities - Make out of the home activities great again. Bowling alleys, skating rinks, movie theaters, strolling the mall, mini-golf, arcades, the list can go on. We would like to get out of the house at least once a week to do something fun. And it's doesn't always have to cost money. Your outing could be a long walk in the neighborhood, a trip to the park, a picnic outside, etc. Make it fun, and something to look forward to. And leave the phones, or at least all but one if you're worried. I know... baby steps. But that one should be in a bag, and on emergency-only mode. *
No Subscriptions - This one is probably the hardest for some people. No subscriptions. Everything now seems to be subscription based. The world is making it so much harder for us to actually own anything individually. Music, TV, movies, software, games, etc. Even a lot of home appliances are now subscription based. We are getting rid of all of them. We will have the radio/cd player, dvd player, our physical media, real books/magazines on the shelves, and I hope eventually we will get the local newspaper and Wallstreet Journal delivered once again to the house. I am so tired of paying the same price for something, if not more, and then having to re-pay it over and over again. I am tired of having to pay for subscriptions to six different streaming services just to be able to watch the things that used to all just be on cable. Do you all remember that? I also miss the amount of patience and retention we were able to build by waiting all week for the next episode of something. Let us not forget that public libraries still exist, and they contain a ton of books, movies, cds, newspapers, magazines, and more. Use them! *
Paper - It's been proven that actually writing things down is better for your brain. It wards off dementia, helps you remember things, and improves hand/eye coordination throughout life. I do have this blog, yes, but I also have a paper planner, journal, calendar, lists, recipes, etc. I love writing. There is something so nice about handwritten things. Handwritten letters are also a wonderful way to reach out to family when you don't feel it is urgent enough to necessitate using the phone. There is something so satisfying about physically crossing something off of a list. And it's nice to help your mind slow down and relax to write things down. Typing may be faster, and easier to correct when you make a mistake, but it's also fleeting. Heaven forbid you forget your passwords, or can't log onto your computer. Or it crashes and everything on it, or on your hard drive, or on your flash drive, disappear. I even heard somewhere that they haven't been teaching cursive for a long time in most schools... and it's no coincidence that AI can't replicate cursive writing, and that the majority of important old texts and documents were written in cursive. You cannot convince me that a writing typed in Microsoft Word is more beautiful than a handwritten one. *
Make the Little Things Exciting Again - We seem to have forgotten, as a society, the art of the hobby. Before people had smart phones to scroll on 24/7, they had hobbies. Crafts seem to be making quite the comback these days, which is wonderful to see. Woodworking, reading, cooking, crocheting, knitting, quilting, puzzles, painting, gardening, tinkering, building, etc. Allow yourself to get really bored because you've stopped using your phone so much, and figure out what it is you would like to learn or do. (And for the love of all things, don't do something with the thought that you will make money from it. That 100% takes all of the fun and therapeutic-ness out of it.) People have decided that boredom is a problem that needed to be solved, and they think the smartphones and social media have solved it. But boredom was never a problem, it was a beautiful circumstance that led people to explore their own minds, their imaginations. It allowed them to be introspective, and to figure out themselves and what they truly think, want, and imagine. Saturday morning cartoons. Just having the living room tv on with some old low-stimulation cartoons. *
and finally,
Money Saving Ideas - People these days spend money like never before. Our credit system has completely screw up how people view money, how they use money, and how they react to economic issues like recessions. The majority of people cannot afford the lifestyle they are living. They cannot afford going out to eat three nights a week. They cannot afford trips every weekend. They cannot afford new clothes and/or makeup every week. (Not to mention the houses, cars, tech, etc.) Before the credit system made people feel like they could spend hugh amounts of money they don't have, people lived more simply. It also helped that they weren't on social media all the time seeing other people post about all the spending they are doing, or slyly posting about things they didnt have to pay for, without disclosing that fact. (1) Make all of your meals at home. Only go out to eat on special occasions. It will feel better, and you will save so much money. You can even make fun days out of it.. like Pizza Fridays. Every Friday you can make a different kind of pizza, or different take on what pizza can mean to you. You can let a different family member pick the theme each week. (2) Make no-spend days the norm. It's not financially savvy to spend money every day, and it definitely shouldn't be normal. Pick one day a week to shop for groceries and stick to it. Stick to your weekly plans. Build that self-discipline. Stop buying new clothes, or trinkets, or home decor every week. In the 1990s it was a special thing to go to the mall to get new clothes. And for most people, it happened like once or twice a year. And that's SO OKAY. Everyone talks about how they don't like the repercussions of fast fashion, yet here they all are, still buying into the 52-season fashion cycle. You don't need new decor for your home all the time. You don't need new decorations every single year for every single holiday. Enjoy your current decorations for years. Or, take one of those new hobbies you found out you like, and make things for your home that will last you decades. *
If you've made it this far, I both applaud and thank you. It was fun writing this, even though I got pretty heated a few times and had to set the laptop down to clear my mind. People in the 1990s didn't know what the inside of other people's houses looked like unless they actually went there. They weren't comparing and copying other people's lives the way they do now. You want to know why you're so much more stressed than your parents were? You want to know why you have a hard time sleeping and your parents didn't? It's the technology that is making our bodies overproduce stress. Whether you think so or not. I for one am here to say that I will be putting in a conscious effort to stop this cycle of nonsensical and over-hyped technology use in my daily life. Am I giving up technology as a whole? No. But what I am doing, is using it as little as possible to keep it from stealing my health, time, and mind.
-Kaelyn
