Consuming the Self
Consumption is a defining characteristic of our society. So much of what we do and are compelled to do is a consumptive activity.
Of course, consuming is a necessity to survive. We need to consume air, water, food, and social interaction. As living human organisms, this is essential. However, as we move past the essentials, we might do well to embrace some choice in what we consume and how much of it.
On the surface, this could be an article about nutrition. “You are what you eat” is still a powerful maxim. I would agree that we would be wise to take heed of what substances we throw in our pie holes. This is important in quality, quantity, kind, source, and preparation. However, I am not writing a nutrition piece here. I think awareness and discernment of consumption expands beyond food and into many other areas as well.
Whether it be the information we intake, the emotional energy we surround ourselves with, the entertainment we choose, or something else, our consumptive sources and their ingredients shape our perspective, development, and self in significant and profound ways. It is concerning that many never consider how and with what their being is penetrated and shaped.
In my estimations, one of the most crucial moments in one’s day - and one’s life is merely a compounding of each day with the next and so on - is how we start that day.
Do we allow external forces to create the tone of our day?
Do we value our autonomy in creating our own story?
Each morning, we have an opportunity. If there is one time of day to resist consuming the readily accessible and poised to pounce avalanche of negativity, it is when we wake up and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Here’s my latest video on the same subject as this article but with some added perspectives and practical actions to take. Let me know what you think and feel free to subscribe, like, and share. You know the drill. I would appreciate it and it would aid in keeping me creating more content that I hope is valuable.
Programming occurs. We either allow it to be done externally as passive NPC-like entities or we bring intentionality into our lives and shape who we are that way.
It is important.
When I work with clients, I often get them to take stock of their habits. It is hard to know where you are at if you are not fully aware of what you do. Much of what we do ends up being unconscious or semi-unconscious. It is a valuable practice to do a self-audit every now and then. Humans are notorious in our ability to ‘forget’ what we do. For example, we often forget about the chocolate bar we bought on a whim when we were filling up our car at the gas station. The extra 250 calories and the other less healthy choice of food slides between the cracks of our awareness. Then when we are wondering why all the hard work of our diet and exercise is stalling out, we misattribute it to something else.
I think this example transfers well to our information intake. Do you know how much time you have spent on Facebook, Instagram, or the likes today?
Of that time, how much of it was spent ‘doom scrolling’, consciously or not?
This urge to get all the facts to protect ourselves from danger and to have a feeling of control over it has kept us engaged with scrolling our phones long hours for more information and news, which are primarily negative. Constant exposure to negative news on social media and news feeds could take the form of “doomscrolling” which is commonly defined as a habit of scrolling through social media and news feeds where users obsessively seek for depressing and negative information (Jennings, 2020; Watercutter, 2020). Sharma et al. (2022) conceptualized doomscrolling as” a habitual, immersive scanning for timely negative information on social media newsfeeds”. (Satici et al., 2023)
I’ve done it… more than once, for lengthy periods of time too. While making the effort to empower oneself with information that might increase awareness of potential threats might have value, it only does so to an extent. At some point, one has enough information. Then it is time for action and balance.
What I am referencing here is active information seeking which is far less insidious than passive information absorption. Still, what can start as intentional can migrate to a sort of sleepwalking ingestion of way too much and far too counterproductive types of information.
I wrote about recognizing when enough information is enough and the benefits of stepping away from the constant gathering of the schemes of the nefarious in my article, Embracing Willful Blindness.
Further negative news will not lead to a better course of action if we are never taking action and always data collecting. There is wisdom in ‘failing fast’, which is often used in relation to taking quick action even if it is imperfect. Most of the time taking action - even without complete datasets - will result in less catastrophic results than one expects and almost always valuable lessons. It is these valuable lessons that are gold. Experience breeds wisdom when thoughtful reflection is aligned with it. Reflection without experimentation is a form of mental masturbation and navel gazing that can slide into the trap of paralysis by analysis.
Even if the information is valuable, overloading our consciousness with negative perspectives is bound to lead to some dark places in our minds. This can be a form of self-defeat, and is often an excuse to use cynicism as a mask for procrastination and a victim mentality.
The key in my mind is to act on what we have power over - namely our attitude and our direct circle of influence - and minimize worrying about the uncontrollable. It is about taken agency of our own lives and perspectives. Resisting the helplessness of an NPC role and finding purpose - even if we have to create it - seems to me to be a healthier and more productive way to live.
For quite sometime now, I have stuck with my mantra: Creating over consuming.
The notion of creating is aligned with taking action and agency in one’s life. It is antithetical to passively absorbing information and being a leaf in the wind thrust one way and another by forces beyond our control. On another level, I would admit that all control is an illusion and thus, we are bound to suffer through a desire for a control, or peace, or even a desire to release desire. This is resonant to Buddhist philosophy.
I touched upon this here, here, and here. It is too big a topic and too wrapped up in many different schools of philosophical thought that often contradict each other for me to add it to this article.
Whether we actually have control over anything or not is almost irrelevant, in my mind. I believe we have significant control over our attitude and thus, that is what we would do well to cultivate with nourishing food, information, company, and activities.
What do you think?