Background noise as a method of avoiding yourself.
Dawn Notes no.75
Gulpen should really make this castle into a community space.
This morning I was thinking about how much of my free time during commutes or while working I listen to some form of information. The least offensive form would be music. That is just pleasurable and nice and often can lead to me thinking and reflecting in a tender human manor. But a form that often permeates my daily life is that of podcasts or listening to youtube videos. I feel like a lot of people now a days almost always have or want something in the background. For a lot of people that is music (shame) or podcasts/videos/someone talking. Do people still listen to radio programs?
Well anyways, this habit I would classify as not the best. Why? Because it is (often) unintentional submission of your attention. Now I know that people have talked about the attention economy or whatever for a long time and I am probably not saying anything new here, but these were the thoughts I had. Existing and reflecting on what you are thinking or more generally just thinking about something, while you have nothing to do or you're occupied by a mundane task, seems to be out of style so to speak. I remember walking back from school listening to instrumental music and considering where I fit and will fit in the world or any other stray thoughts I might have had.
The thing is, I think it is very difficult to differentiate between conscious, intentional consumption versus mindless, unintentional consumption of content. It is very easy to look and listen to things that seem motivational or inspiring or productive, since you might be learning something from that. But often, it is a form of escapism maybe. Or a way to just procrastinate/fill in the background. A way to not confront your own thoughts.
So, with all of that I wanted to say that I will try to be a little more mindful of when I engage with these passive consumption impulses. Maybe you should too!
PS: When I was at my girlfriends parents place for the little break, two things made me feel much more pleasant: sleep and not engaging with content every second when I had nothing to do for a moment.