I already know what you’re going to say: “Just because Dave’s a writer and maintains a weekly blog, that doesn’t mean he can go around making up words, dammit!” Actually, I can, but I’m not making today’s topic up. It’s a thing!
You’re all familiar with the term doomscrolling. In fact, I’m willing to bet (not much, mind you) that most of you practice this most days. I get it, there is certainly a lot of doom to scroll through, but doesn’t the fact that the word doom is in the term send up any red flags for you?
Since my main goal with In Pursuit of Perspective is to pass along good vibes, positivity, and perhaps, oh I don’t know, different perspectives, I’m here to extoll the many virtues of joyscrolling.
First, get yourself a cell phone, tablet, or computer with access to the world wide web. Next, check out these helpful hints I found to help bring more joy into your daily scroll:
Curate your feed
Follow accounts that share cute animals, comedy, art, travel or personal growth.
Mute or unfollow accounts that trigger negative vibes/emotions.
Train your algorithm!
That’s right, show that cranky old Uncle Al Gorithm who’s boss!
Comment on positive videos and watch them all the way through to the end, so your apps learn how to show you more feel-good media.
Use intentional platforms.
Check out positive discovery apps like Joyscroll (told you it was real!) rather than doomscrolling through breaking news and panic-driven threads.
Ahhh, can you feel the stress leaving you already?
Now, all of the above looks like a great start toward realizing more joy and less stress in your daily life, and it is, but our friends in the psychology field caution not to endlessly scroll only good content, since it can sometimes act as “fake joy” or as an avoidance tactic, which can numb uncomfortable real-life emotions and have the negative effect of not giving you the rest and peace you sought from joyscrolling in the first place.
Look, the real world is out there and joy is also. The key, as with so many things in life, is moderation. Keep up with current events but don’t obsess over them. Find some fun and humor online, then put a limit to that also. Try getting outside for some fresh air, reading a good book, doing an arts & craft project, or losing yourself in that favorite hobby. It all provides a much-needed break from all the pressures hammering away at us every day. Heck checking out my blog each week must give you a little breather, right? Right? RIGHT??? 😊
Well, that’ s all the time I have today, peeps. I hope this helps you to create a framework that gets you trending toward more positivity moving forward.
Until next week, whatever you are, scroll responsibly and be a good one!
-Dave
