This morning, on a whim (because that's how I roll), I decided to detach myself from social media for the rest of May. I can't say exactly why I felt the urge to say goodbye today, suffice to say that when I looked up from my morning phone session 3 hours had passed since I'd woken up and I had crossed nothing off of my day's 'To Do' list. Yes, I realised that I had fallen into that murky abyss of scrolling on autopilot and following rabbit holes through multiple online stores, news articles, opinion pieces and dubiously linked websites. I realised, to my shock and horror, that I had exchanged a big chunk of my time for the mind numbing bliss that comes with scrolling through apps that are constructed precisely to trigger the dopamine receptors in our brains.
I haven't been creating an awful lot lately and I don't know that it has much to do with social media, but in the time that I'm not making I sure as hell don't want to be stuck with my head in a phone. I want to be outside enjoying this beautiful May weather, I want to be reading incredible contemporary Australian literature, I want to be planting seeds and finishing the renovations we'd planned for 2019, I want to be living in this glorious, messed up world and feeling all of the things! But mostly, I want to create things without seeking external validation for a while.
So, here I am, typing in my blog (a good start I'd say!), thinking all the things I want to achieve over the next month or so. There are specific projects I have in mind including a couple of poster images I want to complete and a fun illustration project dedicated to all of the whale lovers in the world. I want to start another embroidery, make lots of baskets (basket weaving is my newest hobby!) and start a new daily art journal. If I use these hours each day I was using scrolling I should smash my goals no problem, and if I don't at least I'll have procrastinated by engaging in the world beyond my phone.
Let's see how I go...