dopamine cleanse

A friend of mine inspired me to join her on a "dopamine cleanse" for the month of January. For me, that means no Instagram or Facebook, and no Amazon or thrift store purchases. 

It's only January 4th, and boy oh boy, do I realize now how dependent on those things I have become! 

I've always been very aware to not be on my phone around my kids. But when they're not watching - in the bathroom, when I'm making lunch, when I'm going to bed, etc. - I've gotten into such a habit of mindlessly pulling up a social media just for a quick check. I scroll Facebook Marketplace looking for cool deals even when I don't need anything. In the last few days, I've found myself thinking about something totally unrelated (schedule for the day, meal prep, etc.), and yet looked down and realized I'd opened up Instagram without even meaning to. It's such a terrifying recognition of how wired my brain has become to default to this quick, easy entertainment option. 

So I'm grateful to be doing this "cleanse" for this month, and then decide what kind of regulations I want to set up for myself long term. 

But beyond just eliminating these inputs, I'm discovering that in those moments where I normally go to social media, I can use that impulse to do something much more beneficial. Instead of checking Facebook, I've taken to sending a text to a friend I haven't caught up with in a while. Instead of browsing instagram, I have the brain space to think of things I've been wanting to do for a long time, but haven't done. I started brainstorming how to finish a novel I started years ago. I'm planning an awesome unit for our next homeschool season. And I have more projects in the pipeline. 

And even smaller things: I have more moments to pause and look around me, to take in the little moments, not for an instagram post, but just because. (Like this moment of Sugar peering through the kitchen window, which always makes me laugh.)

I have a hunch that by the end of this month, I'll wonder why I ever had social media at all.