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Give Yourself Credit for Showing Up
There are a million ways to check out. Pick a screen, any screen. Distractions are calling, and they promise relief.
It’s tempting to be anywhere but right here, right now. Depending on where you look, “now” can be a very scary place.
War(s), mass shootings, corporate fraud, social injustice, political mudslinging, hate crimes, intrusive capitalism, racism, environmental destruction, predictions about sentient machines…the list goes on.
If I want to fly into a panic, all I need to do is turn on the news. If I want to drown in hopelessness, I have a ready supply of horrifying atrocities at my fingertips.
With the magical device I carry in my pocket, I have immediate access to stoke the flames of each and every character defect I stubbornly refuse to let go: Jealously. Self-pity. Greed. Rage. Lust. Resentment. Selfishness.
Why We Check Out
It’s easier to pull an ostrich and bury my head in the sand than attempt to tolerate the bloody, raw traumas that tug at me from every screen.
It’s overwhelming, and we’re overstimulated. The human nervous system didn’t evolve to endure our constant, daily barrage of predatory advertisements…
