Monday Motivation - Put Your Phone Down

Welcome to Monday Motivation - Put your phone down

I am very rarely prescriptive in my Monday Motivations. I like to offer perspectives, thoughts, or strategies that have worked for me in my writing life, and hope that some of it lands. 

Today’s Monday Motivation is different, and it is super simple. It is probably going to sting a little bit.

Put your phone down. Turn off the TV. Go do anything else other than consume story after story about the chaos in the world.

There is a lot of things we cannot control in this world. I think for some, this realization is just landing. We live not outside of nature, but within it. We are part of an order, we don’t create the order. 

But, you control how much media you consume. 

I get there is a value to being connected in this time of change. I’m not saying you should go off grid. I’m saying there is a diminishing return in the value of that information. 

It is not easy to disconnect. I deeply struggle with this. Some days I downright fail. But, any additional moment not spent throttling my stress level is a win.  When I limit my media consumption, at the end of the day, I feel a relaxation in my neck and shoulders. My head doesn’t feel like it is going to explode. The death of myself and all my loved ones is not imminent. 

So give your nervous a break. Start with a small action or task and build from there. Take a bath, take a walk. Read a good book. Write a story. Write down how you feel. Cry. Run. Hug those close to you. Find a way to help. Draw, paint, watch a good movie. Clean your house. Write a letter to someone who is alone. Call an old friend. Donate to people or organizations that need aid. 

Here’s the thing. The world is suffering, and it will suffer for a while. There is no way around that. You and I can’t control the suffering. But we can bring light to those around us. We can show ourselves grace. And humans are tough. We survive. We adapt. Even in hard times, there is the human to create and protect. 

 We can make lemonade. 

Thank you for listening. Stay safe, stay isolated. And I hope you have a wonderful week of writing.

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