Pretend It’s a Forest
Lately, nothing I see or hear excites me anymore. Perhaps it’s because I’m looking in all the wrong places, or more accurately, consuming from all the wrong ones. Doom-scrolling on social media or on-demand streaming services. Infinite content that, more than feeding us, feels like is shoved down our throats.
I’ve even caught myself getting upset, questioning: how many more reboots, remakes, and sequels do we need? From vampires to Frankensteins (with the honorable exception of Guillermo del Toro, of course) and one-hit, high-hype films with zero storytelling payoff. Everything feels bland and overused; so much so that staring into the abyss, quietly dissociating into my own thoughts, starts to feel like the better option.
It makes me wonder if we’re living through an era defined by lack of creativity, creation, and ideation. A future uncomfortably close to Idiocracy; a satire on media, consumerism, and anti-intellectualism in a dystopian future that once felt absurd, but that now feels more like a reality. Just without the laughable part.
And just when we thought social media was the villain, a new character entered the story: AI. One of the greatest creations of our time—or so they say—a tool reshaping our lives in real time, sometimes misleading entire populations who can’t tell good from bad, let alone fake from real. And often flooding social media feeds with the most questionable trends. So how do we claim back creativity and original thought, and have the mental cleanse that we all need? Well, you’re in luck, because I’m currently on that journey myself, and I have a few suggestions as I try to reclaim my time from all this nonsense.
Rethink thinking. Start by asking yourself if you’re actually the one doing the thinking—or if someone (or something) is doing it for you. If it’s the latter, it might be time to wake up that brain of yours. You may want to have some Advil handy for a slow, less painful start.
Materialize ideas. Ideas are always floating around; you just have to catch them and turn them into something real. Writing, painting, building, cooking; whatever works. Creating pulls you back into reality and helps you shape the world you want to live in. Unfortunately, it requires effort, which makes it incompatible with my preferred lifestyle as a professional procrastinator.
Read tangible resources. This newspaper. A book. Anything that keeps you from scrolling, even for a few minutes. Every minute away from social media counts as a minute well spent, and if time is all we have, we might as well spend it doing something interesting or fun. Even if that something is reading the ingredient list on your pantry items.
Interact with other humans. A risky activity that may restore your faith in humanity—or completely destroy it. There is no middle ground. Proceed selectively.
I’m writing this mostly as a note to myself, but I’m sure I’m not alone. I’m not unique, and neither is this feeling. We’ve somehow accepted that it’s normal to be on our phones at all times. And while it’s easier said than done, locals, old-timers, newcomers, tourists, and visitors from other galaxies; let’s pretend there’s hope for all of us. Especially for you, since you made it to the end of this column.