💥How I Stole My Mind Back From Social Media💥
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I am so excited to reconnect with you all after my deep dive into the studio for the past month. My spirit guides promised me that I would experience a breakthrough if I made the space to enter into a focused and clear channeling state. In order to do this, I had to block all social media on my phone and take a pause from the collective online world. I needed to descend into the quiet and allow my mind to detox from the scattered onslaught of information, randomness and endless voices. The Magic of my Attention Our attention is sacred and not just the quantity of it that we devote to our soul's passions but even more important is the quality. When we focus in a way that is calm, energized and deep, what we focus on will naturally expand, evolve, and surprise us with unexpected gifts and healing. If I wanted to receive the breakthrough in my art that my spirit guides were promising, I would need to devote my highest quality attention to this endeavor. Parameters of my 1-month media detox
I was shocked to find that for almost 2 weeks into the media detox, my mind felt restless and in a state of ambiguous craving. While I was not actually craving Instagram, my attention lacked the smooth continuity that I had been accustomed to for my whole life before the short form video trend overtook all of social media along with its extra addictive and scattering powers. I had not been one to scroll for extended periods of time. I would even forget about my phone altogether when I was with a friend or out in nature. Yet, picking it up in those small in between moments to check Instagram, even for just 30 seconds at a time. had undeniably affected the depth and length of my focus, my sense of inner calm and my ability to easily drop into a flow state. After two weeks without access to any addictive apps, I finally felt like I could fully relax into my painting and savor every minute of it as the hours flowed by. I was returned to the self I knew as a child when I would get lost for entire days in the worlds and creatures I was painting and drawing. This creative space is so sacred to me. I have to say I felt angry at Meta and the like for purposely designing their apps to be so addictive and infringing on the most precious workings of my mind itself while simultaneously taking away a lot of the opportunities for true connection and community building that originally drew us to those spaces. The fire of this anger is fueling my dedication to continue limiting my use of these apps. However, I have come to the realization that I am not able to abstain on my own that is how addictive they are. I found myself automatically trying to open Instagram without even thinking even though it was blocked by the Minimalist Phone app. Sometimes, I would just look at my phone as if it had something I was looking for even though it was no longer a portal to any of those spaces. This is what my phone looks like now with Minimalist Phone (not sponsored). It is meant to be less gamified and more neutral. For the first week, I would pick up my phone and just quietly read through the app names in a small and eerie voice as that was all there was left to do on my phone. Honestly, it was a bit sci-fi and quite disturbing in a dystopian way. I started thinking about the woman I saw scrolling in the hot springs while her partner soaked nearby looking at her and the people in the epic sauna with windows overlooking the mountains watching tiktoks with the sound on. I remembered the man at the top of hike sitting on the bench with awe-inspiring views scrolling his phone and another man walking his dog lost in his phone while his friend walked beside him looking annoyed. I don't feel morally superior in any way. I simply feel sad that our minds have been so brutally hijacked. I feel compassion for everyone who has trouble limiting their scroll. I feel angry that our desire for connection with our fellow humans has been exploited to steal our attention and disrupt our actual ability to connect with each other. My Strategy Going Forward After witnessing the toll on the quality and depth of my focus, I want to continue to be very mindful and limited in my use of social media. I love sharing my art, seeing other artists' creations and connecting with people there. So this is what I will be attempting and I can always test and change it as needed.
By protecting the sacred space of my mind and imagination and devoting myself to my painting for the month of April, I did in fact experience a breakthrough in my art and I am excited to share that with you in my next newsletter. I encourage you all to liberate your minds as much as possible from the addictive and scattering energy of the scroll and other addictive apps. Your attention, your flow and your wild imagination are true MAGIC. They belong to you and are yours to shape and channel as you desire. Don't give them away without a fight. If you want to try any of the things I tried but have questions for me, feel free to hit reply and ask. Likewise, if you have found things that have helped you, please share them with me too. Let's help each other, my fellow seekers and dreamers. With love and magic, Nicole P.S. Stay tuned for my Spring Art Print Collection Release where I will be offering a curated selection of art prints in very limited quantities that are not normally available in my shop. Expect feelings of upliftment, new beginnings, passionate fire and blooming energy to permeate these pieces.
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