But quite the opposite, I learn just to say thank you.
This is Soul-Gardening, and from this place
I take my breaths, and live my life.
So that life sustains me, rather than sways me,
A million thank yous, to the one that guides me.
This is Soul-Gardening, and from this place,
Garden your soul, like you garden the soil…
Softly, but surely – with your own bare hands.
CHAPTER 6
UNTECH YOURSELF
Look around you. Something is happening to us. Technology. Wi-Fi, tablets, laptops, smartphones, wearable tech – we’re kinda inundated with technology these days. Most of it is sold to us with the idea that it’ll make our lives easier, but does it?
Increasingly, everywhere, you’ll see a lot of people on screens. I see a lot of people increasingly connected in the virtual world – but less and less connected in the physical one. But, at the same time, I also see a ton of people coming together through the internet and making incredible changes in the world. So, technology, what do we think? Does it ring alarm bells or is it a saviour? Are devices making life easier or more complex? Is this stuff helping us or overloading us?
In my eyes there is clearly a dark side to technology. Namely that it’s stressing us out, overloading us with way too much information, and is highly addictive. But yet, technology is also completely and utterly amazing! It’s a superb tool. I love getting creative on my computer. However, I am also often very alone in my online world. And I’m pretty sure I used to be having more laughs and fun with actual real humans, rather than ‘online’ versions, y’know?
Also, did you know that we are all coping with around five million per cent more stimuli in 2019 than we were just 50 years ago. That’s a LOT of stimuli. All that scrolling. Click, click, click, click, click. Have our brains evolved enough in that time to be able to cope with all this extra stimuli? Hmmm…
I do firmly believe that technology has an important role to play in our world – and it is not all negative. Used wisely, and consciously – so that we use it, rather than it using us – we can enjoy the many benefits of technology without becoming a slave to it. Whether you use it carefully or are a self-confessed addict, it is worth taking some time to consider your digital use, and to programme in a highly beneficial digital detox.
It’s not about cutting it out of your life. Rather, it’s about not letting it take over your life. Let’s take a little tour of some of its key aspects and I’ll tell you how I’ve learned to untech myself, and what I’ve discovered from doing so.
Our internet addiction
Many of us find it increasingly difficult to stop ourselves from going online everyday, and to break away from it once we are there. Why is this? Because of a sneaky little chemical in your brain called DOPAMINE. Let me explain…
The internet has the power to get your brain into an addictive loop. A loop where you are constantly checking your messages or scrolling through something-or-other throughout the day. It works like this:
Every time you click on something online, be it a YouTube video or an email or a Facebook like, your body releases a little squirt of a chemical called dopamine into your brain. This is a ‘feel-good’ chemical – and it’s addictive. So, imagine ‘click click click’ – dopamine rush after dopamine rush right through the day. Every day. The ‘clicks’ feel good, so we just keep clicking, late into the night and first thing in the morning. Basically, it’s like a drug and it’s all too easy to be addicted to this drug, with all of the problems of dependency this brings, unless we learn to use it sparingly and consciously.
We are subtly being sold the idea that always being connected and contactable is good for us. The state of being always ‘on’ in the digital world has become the new norm. But many of us are starting to realize that ‘always on’ pretty much translates to ‘always stressed’. Which isn’t so great. ‘Always on’ means always available, and we’re not meant to be available for other people all the time. Because that would mean we are unavailable for ourselves. All those endless texts, messages, bleeps and ringtones can scatter us. It can fragment our energy. Dilute it. And that’s not good. We don’t want our energy to be scattered, we want it to be solid.
So pull your energy back a bit. Back off the tech. Learn to use it consciously. And if this means you need to step away from technology for a little while in order to get your life back in healthy balance, do so.
How to use the internet consciously
So, what does this mean? Well, using the internet consciously is something of an art – it takes practice and requires you to be a master of your own self-discipline. This is what will keep you out of the addiction trap. And perhaps most importantly, it requires that you ‘meet yourself’ before you ‘meet the internet’.
You need to get strong in yourself and be comfortable with yourself, happy in your own skin – so there is no urge to escape into the virtual world. Because the ‘real’ world is just fine how it is. Because YOU are fine how you are. You may need to do a little healing work (see Part 3, Being Who We Really Are) in order to get to this place, but with patience and effort you will get there.
Dip in, dip out – don’t get scattered
Try not to make your day a constant stream of internet use… this just scatters us! It scatters the brain and fragments your energy. Don’t let yourself get lured into pointless, aimless, endless scrolling to distract from your everyday reality or just for ‘something to do’. Do something more productive instead, such as going for a walk, or talking to someone in person. And when you do go online, make a firm decision to just dip in, do what you need to do, and then dip straight back out again.
This is a skill, people. It will take some time to make these adjustments to using the internet consciously. Stick with it. This is a big life change for many of us! You might need to make a complete break from all things ‘tech’ for a while to really break the addiction cycle. Do it!
Experiment with not checking your email every day. Experiment with not posting every day. Watch your brain and its patterns. See the link between heavy online use and certain patterns in your life. See how they change when you lessen your internet use. Listen to your intuition as regards to how you use the internet. Play with it. Experiment. Find out what works for you – and what doesn’t.
Become an absolute wizard of conscious internet use. Use it with care. Don’t use it like a zombie, to zone out of your existence. Use it when you want to – and don’t when you don’t. Use it to spread love, change the planet, make money and to find out what’s going on in the world.
Here’s a quote I really like about this subject for you:
‘You can move from being an addict to being a mindful master in the digital realm when you direct yourself with will, stepping eloquently beyond the reach of the dead spiderlike arms with a living dance of your own.’
Paul Levy
Social media
Let’s take a moment to consider social media. The positive side of this modern phenomenon is that it is opening up a global community where we can share everything publicly and connect with a greater number of people than ever before.