For my social media sobriety, I'd like to thank...

Seems I'm as inclined to the return of 90s trends as any midrif-baring, "mom jeans" teen...

Not the best picture of Greyton but one of the only ones I took.

So I came back from the writing retreat with a new-found love of puzzles and Pink Floyd and a disturbing twist in my relationship with my new story. Do I love it as much as I thought I did? Could I leave it now after all the infatuation and promises of the first few dates? 

I’ll worry about that next week because, for now, it’s emotional and practical prep time for Saturday’s panel on self-publishing at The Franschhoek Literary Festival.

In doing some catching up on the ins and outs of it all, I was reminded again of what a dirty word “self-published” is for many people. And for me still I guess. Hope I manage to keep my cynical self just a little more cheery about it for the discussion.

But as I type this, I’m reminded of what a pleasure this form of self-publishing is and how delighted I am to be toying with it again. Blogging is like convening a little fireside campsite for just a handful of people where no one shouts. Very early 2000s. Very soothing. 

And, my god, my 2020s soul is tired of the shouting and the general white noise social media has acclimatised me to. Do I really need to know about everything happening in the world all the time? Do I really need to have an opinion on everything? Do I need to be seen by everyone?

In a bid to rebuild my brain from the damage done by social media scrolling, I’ve found myself using it less and less (social media that is, not my brain), with the consequence that I’m less and less inclined to care enough about it to continue feeding it. And it’s a very hungry and very demanding time and brain muncher if your aim isn’t to become a “content creator” for it.

I’d like to ascribe this turnaround to my incredible sense of willpower or wisdom, but really it’s just a collection of events that have conspired to bring me to the point of Just Being Done With It All and reclaiming ownership of my time and focus.

So, I am compelled to thank:

1. Social media and its advertising and the incessant fiddling with algorithms all of which takes me away from content and makers I actually want to see.

2. Musk and Zuckerfuck for being so gross and always reminding me that it is an ethical quandary into which I step every time I use their platforms.

3. The social media madness that comes over people online, making humanity even more unbearable than it already is.

4. Person X who blocked me and made my favourite daily crazy scroll impossible. 

5. Aging up and wising up. 

6. Mental health. 

Coming into a sort of social media sobriety is a bit like stopping smoking. You finally see that you got so hooked and cooked just to make a few rich men richer. 

Which means that I have time to care about fewer things with more pleasure and focus. Writing up goodies here, reading, crocheting, gardening, pottering about, cross wording, brain puzzles, Sudoku … actual puzzles and actually listening to music – whole albums. WHOLE ALBUMS. How very 90s. 

It’s like I’m returning to a sort of pre-2010s engagement with my environment – just sober-minded enough to enjoy it. 

Hope you have a beautiful weekend and if not beautiful at least not terrible enough to make you want to vomit. 

Love and light and also some appropriate darkness because that is always best for snoozing. 

t