All in front of an artificial 2D screen, with little real connection to persons or society. We’ve become hooked by the Dopamine peddlers.
The hormones that regulate mood, like dopamine or serotonin, have become the #1 drug that everyone—except maybe the Amish—are addicted to by contemporary culture.
And getting you’re minute-by-minute Dopamine fix doesn’t stop with the smartphone, computer, or TV screen.
It comes from looks and gestures of approval for looking athletically fit, smartly dressed, head held high, smartphone in hand, driving the latest model of car. Or just the inner satisfaction you’re seemingly pleasing and appeasing the masses with your contemporary six figure, two income lifestyle.
Diabolical narcissism turning us into Zombies.
It’s like living in a Hollywood movie like The Matrix. Our divorce from creation and Creator, from a realist life whereby we “act in accord with nature and reason,” has left us already in social ruins the effect being a break down in mental health.
If you’re a contemporary urbanite, by definition you suffer from chronic anxiety and depression. And we all are affected the more we allow ourselves to get sucked down this whirlpool.
I’m as guilty and affected as any trad Catholic with a smartphone and a TV. A stressful day at work to me is not from the actual work itself, which is life sustaining, but from the endless toxicity of the modern workplace and marketplace. The mental torture of crazy drivers in 5pm traffic is just icing on the cake.
It’s an unhealthy coping mechanism then to soothe your emotions by endlessly checking your phone throughout the day for texts, emails, notifications, weather, news, etc, etc.
I cannot imagine how this vicious cycle of modern stimulation to elevate mood hormones can be sustainable. Addictions to computer games, or trendy language like the now ubiquitous use of “awesome” or an exclamation point at the end of every text message, these now constant variables will only result in month by month, year by year, decline in mental, physical, and spiritual health.
The dystopian, post-apocalyptic future is here, minus in the US anyway economic collapse or civil war. Most now are either wolves or wolves in sheep’s clothing. The proverbial sheep, people trying to be God-fearing, honest, humble, and like Christ, are in the vulnerable minority. Everywhere.
If I had a teenager, I wouldn’t allow them to have a smartphone or FB account. Or play hours a day of video games. I might do a Wii for physical games in the home during bad weather, on occasion, but not on demand daily hours on end in front of any screen.
But I’d be a hypocrite if I said I was living as strictly as my inner convictions dictate for parenting. This winter was especially tempting for me, as it usually is, to flop in front of the TV or impulsively pick up my smartphone. I chalk it up to getting my own Dopamine fix because of shorter, colder, and
dimmer days.
And so with the change in Daylight Savings Time (which should be abolished imo), the beginning of Spring, and warmer weather, we took a short camping trip just east of town on the Verdigris River in Buffalo Landing state park, for no other reason than to get our Dopamine fix the way nature intended.
By being outside, breathing fresh air, hearing actual wildlife, staring into the soulful flames of a campfire, and looking up at the constellations. Realism being the best antidote for modern stress. Something I am more and more mindful that I am in need of.
Here is a video (yes I took on my smartphone) of our campfire. I burned a dozen year old logs which made for a blazing fire keeping us warm from just after dinner until midnight. You can hear bullfrogs in the background, and Peanut my dauchshund moaning a bit as she tried to get warm on my lap under a blanket. And so as I sat there sipping Jim Beam recalling stories from the past, these are also the thoughts that came to mind which I put down here. It sure beat the artificial image of the Netflix fireplace I sometimes use at home. Enjoy the Realism (no exclamation point needed).