Be it doom scrolling or watching any video that the algorithm sends my way, I have noticed a certain sensation that hangs in the air following certain activities that do not require my creative input.
By creative input, I don't mean the work of creativity, but rather the engagement of imaginative thought. When you read a book, you create a world in your head whether you meant to or not. When you doodle in a book or write in a journal, though the activity isn't "hard" per se, it does require the activation of your intellectual and imaginative mental circuitry.
But when you binge as a show, scroll a meme page,, or watch YouTube shorts (or TikTok, though I can only imagine/assume), there is a lag in the spirit. But why??
It is because, though it is"relaxing" entertainment in the moment, once the dopamine wears off and the "truth" seeps in, we are reminded by just how switched off our imaginative minds have been while we were soaking in the goop of mindless, non-constructive entertainment.
Not to say that there is anything "productive" or constructive" about a doodle session or stream-of-consciousness typing session, but there is a stark difference that can almost be felt in the soul- a feeling that, though I have "killed" some time, that it was not "dead" time at all. It was constructive entertainment. And that I can't wait to unproductively entertain myself with these doodle-tastic creations again.
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