Mindlessly Following

These days it feels impossible to determine what is right or wrong for myself

With a never ending ability to see everyone else's opinions at the touch of a fingertip

It's unlikely that our brains are not all somewhat infiltrated with the ideas, values, opinions, and beliefs of others

Which isn't necessarily a negative thing inherently, if we know our boundaries and limits

And if, only truly if we can practice self control

But in a dopamine fasting, non stop, swipe up, slide right, left, down look around, back down society

It's increasingly hard to know when to stop, or to be able to stop

Especially when you have chemical imbalances and are in the process of healing years of trauma

When your brain seeks chaos

You search for it and find it in seconds with the help of a smartphone, tablet, computer, tv screen

It's harder to not indulge in the chaos and negativity than it is to avoid it all together

But we all believe we moderate it for ourselves

And we can convince ourselves, at least I did, that if we are only following the people we align with, than we are only adding to our lives

But no matter how many positive, heart centered spiritual people we follow

No matter how many poets, artists, holistic nutritionists even

We will always find ourselves lost in the fawning of someone else's set of opinions and beliefs

I don't believe in facts on the internet

I believe in intuition

I believe in gut reactions

I believe in inner guidance

I believe in natural knowing

But when I am lost in a spiral of sadness and want to see a funny video

I'm also watching another person's belief system and values on display

And so are you

Even if you scroll past every single negative thing

You are still seeing it

It is still seeping into your subconscious, desperately searching for a place to latch on

And in my case, it doesn't have to search too hard to find a spot to live

And before I know it, my thought patterns have once again become negative

And the only cure I've found

Is to get off Instagram

To delete Facebook

To ignore Twitter

To moderate in depth the amount of minutes per day I am allowed to scroll

It's an addiction that is hard to beat, especially when your friends and family are sucked into it

Asking you if you've seen this, watched that, read this article, listened to that podcast

When was the last time we sat at a family dinner or went to a friend's house, sat around the fire

And asked each other

How is your intuition doing these days?

Are you tuned into the rhythms of nature?

Has your heart been holding up okay?

Do your emotions feel scared or weak

Is your mind afraid?

Are you hiding or running away?

Do you want to engage in laughter and play?

Without a screen?

What could we learn about our own beliefs, values, ideals, if this is how we interacted with each other? If this is how we interacted with the world?

Would we be able to cure our own pain, soothe our own souls, find peace again and again?

I believe that answer is yes, but you don't have to

That's the beauty of living in our sovereignty

We get to read, listen, watch, smell, hear, taste

And then decide as an individual

Whether we like it, whether we agree, and whether we will continue to indulge

So you don't have to read these things, read my words and my ideals, and take them on

I'd be happier if you didn't

I'd be happiest if you took what resonates

If you found someplace quiet, in nature, alone for a while

And read some of these messages

And then decided what to keep and what to reject

It's your life

And an Instagram post won't tell you this, no matter how harmless it seems, so I will

You are worthy

Valuable

Beautiful

Intrinsically safe and connected to a force of life somewhere between the ocean waves and the trees swaying in the breeze on top of a mountain

You are sand and star dust and boulders and soil

And you get to choose what you believe, how you engage, who you trust, who you spend time with, and where you are going on this journey we call life

So if you only take one piece of my advice...

It is this:

Never leave your wishlist open for society to fulfill

Go outside and find it

Find it, read it, feel it, live it

And then decide is Instagram, Facebook, twitter, tiktok,

Really worth that much, if any, of your time?