just a quickie
BRIEF UPDATE. Never mind the title. Git yer minds out of the gutter.
I DID IT. I completed my 7-day “fast” from social media, TV, phone games, and sweets. Now comes the maintenance phase, which will last…I don’t know how long. I need to touch base with Josh about that part.
But I will have some hard and fast rules for myself during this time. I haven’t decided yet exactly what they will be, but they’ll likely look something like this:
- 1-3 episodes of TV per week OR 1-2 movies per week, preferably with the family
- No late-night snacking while watching anything
- Sweets, junk, alcohol only on weekends or on special occasions, preferably only with friends
- Social media only on the computer, and only after I have completed the day’s writing
- No social media or games on my phone
So that’s what I’ve got so far. I’ll update as needed.
In related news…y’all. My brain actually does feel better.
It’s funny how your outlook on LifeTheUniverseAndEverything improves when you’re not exposing yourself to (manufactured) outrage every ten minutes. I feel a lot clearer about my own day-to-day existence. My general mood is better. Depression feels more manageable. Anxiety hasn’t vanished, but it’s not continually encroaching anymore.
And this is after just one week.
What if I kept this up for a whole month?
Or *GASP* indefinitely?
The mind boggles.
In other news, I submitted my short story “Family Matters” to Bernard for Maximum Thrill! Magazine. When I hear back, I’ll holler at y’all here. All two of you reading this. 😆
ADDENDUM 07/21/2022
Josh informs me that maintenance is FOREVER. The goal — a reasonable, beneficial goal that I would have already articulated, had I been honest with myself — is to cement these positive changes as permanent so as to avoid sliding back into former habits. And I want that, y’all. I want these changes to be permanent. I don’t want to go back to behaving or feeling the way I did three weeks ago. So. Those rules I listed up there are in effect and will remain so for the foreseeable future. You’ll see me here regularly, I do believe. I still want an online “home base,” whether anyone follows me over here or not.