Blog
Don’t Let Doomscrolling Derail You
Creatives are not Nero fiddling as the world burns.
Wow, did I make a big mistake today. I get on my computer, after my morning reading, ready to write this post, and I found that I’d left a certain tab on my browser open. Facebook.
Before long, I went past a couple of perfectly innocuous posts and stumbled across something political. Immediately, my heart sank. Is this really how things are going?
Before long, I was stupefied. My brain fought all rational thought as I kept scrolling and finding more to be distressed about.
Doomscrolling is a form of autopilot. It draws you in, drags you down, and if you have any kindness, compassion, and empathy in you, it makes you feel awful. How is this where we’re at? How did we get here? What can we do?
This way lies madness. Before long, doomscrolling has a hold of your attention; distracts you with fear, doom, and gloom; and derails your plots, plans, and actions.
What can you do to stop doomscrolling from derailing you?
Take small steps of active conscious awareness
I sat here in front of the screen for a while, trying and failing to pull myself away. Doomscrolling threatened to derail not just this article, but my entire day. It was about to derail my calm.
So, I made a choice. I stepped away from the screen and keyboard. Took a shower. Made some breakfast. Got more coffee. All of which are small steps of active conscious awareness.
What that means is, rather than allow my subconscious mind to run away to dark, disturbing, depressing places, I made conscious choices. Step away. Shower. Make breakfast. Reset. Come back to it and start again.
All of these might seem unimportant. But when I use my active conscious awareness – yes, mindfulness – in this way, I take back the wheel from my subconscious mind and the doom and gloom threatening to overwhelm me.
That’s the biggest danger. Give in to the hate, the fear, the awfulness, the ongoing insanity, and you yield all your power. Doomscrolling becomes a subconscious act that can and will steal your time, focus, attention, and more. Unchecked, this will cause you utterly unnecessary pain and suffering.
How do you stay in the know without getting inundated and depressed?
How can you do art in the face of this madness?
When it looks like the world is burning, it can feel like making art – whatever art that might be – is disingenuous, unconscionable, maybe even reprehensible. It’s like the classical image of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
However, life is still happening even if the world appears to be burning. Specifically, your life is still happening. Because there’s so little that you can do about the big picture matters, it’s extra important that you do you.
When you allow the insanity of the world at large to dominate your life experience, you disempower yourself. That means that you give away your energy, your vigor, your overall wellness and wellbeing.
Unfortunately, there are messages out there that tell you to give all that you can give. Which is not a bad thing, until you have an empty well. When you are ignoring what you need to survive – not the basics, I mean the things that make life worth living – you’re working from a place of lack that will quickly become a void of disempowerment, joylessness, and other negative feelings, sensations, and emotions.
Your art, whatever it might be, is a source of empowerment. It’s not selfish because when you’re empowered, you can do more overall. If you’re disempowered, you have ceded your power and lessened what you can give the world. That’s why making your art in the face of madness is as vital as any emergency services.
Next time you find yourself doomscrolling, pause, reflect, and use active conscious awareness to be mindful and take control to stop for the sake of your health, wellness, and wellbeing.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own creator, whatever form that takes?
You must be logged in to post a comment.