how to start enjoying life as it was intended

So, it’s been established by the fact that if you are reading this, you somewhere believe that the progress of humanity has been pointing towards a bit of a wrong direction. And everybody is becoming a bit more unhappy with their lives, like feeling a void, and once that void is filled, racing towards filling the next one. You see the pattern here. RAT RACE.

We know what should be done (deep down for sure) but no one is willing to do it. You are not alone, nor a culprit of the whole issue. You are not as lazy as you think you are. You are in fact much smarter than you think. How do I know this? Well, for the fact that the internet bombarded us with information, and initially it was great. People were getting more and more aware, but eventually, that’s all they started to do. CONSUME.

Soon the dopamine that consumption gave us started to feel stale, so we were moved on to platforms where they competed for our attention. We became livestock for them to suck the thinking and creativity out of. So yeah, you aren’t as dumb or lazy as you think you are.

Coming to what this piece of “Writing” is all about: how to start enjoying life as it was intended. Honestly, I want to make you believe how good life is when rejecting modernity and accepting analog, or basically finding a balance between productivity and enjoying life. I feel the way it is, is that we all have some forced ill habits that make us miserable. I know for sure I do; for me, it is doomscrolling.

Even if I remove my access to Instagram, I will start scrolling YouTube Shorts or any other short videos, because every place is now filled with such a pattern.

The problem is not even an app anymore; it’s a hunger for dopamine and like an addiction, of course. Along with that, there are too many marketing notifications to grab your attention, lighting up your phone, making us wonder if it’s an important notification. By the way, if you read this far, you have the capability to escape from this dystopia.

So, I wanted to block out YouTube Shorts without blocking out YouTube, as I use it for music, etc. I came across an app which specifically does that (only Android ☹️) called minimal launcher. But even with that blocked, I realized that whenever I wanted to record myself thinking, I needed to keep opening my phone. It was so inconvenient and distracting to have that screen back in my face, so the urge to get a digicam occurred.

Then I realized, what if I go full analog?

Get the physical thing for everything, just as it was before the smartphone era, as it was supposed to be. Now, on why I wanted to record myself: it was so that I can hear my thoughts out loud, as journaling isn’t always convenient. I have always done a lot of brain dumps, but scrawling on a small copy doesn’t always cut it when your thoughts are way too interconnected and complex. So I got a whiteboard. Big thoughts need big places to scrawl.

Regardless, all of these are OK, but how do you even get the patience for it? Well, get bored. That’s it—get freaking bored. Don’t do anything for a good amount of time, just sit and try to keep yourself awake. If you sleep, you kinda forfeit and start from the beginning when you wake up. I mean, try not to nod off. It will feel like a waste of time, but trust me, it’s not.

And once you feel like you can’t do it anymore, start consuming a ~1-hour episode of a show or something—anything above 40 minutes—to give yourself a reward. Consumption is not all bad, but there should be a limit to it. The easier it is to get to the bottom line faster and faster, the more the value of the journey diminishes. As you get into quick iterations, it becomes an unintentional habit; you forget you are even doing it.

Once you are able to get bored, creativity starts flowing, and once that happens, you should pour it out however you want, regardless of the type or quality. If you wanna sketch, just doodle it. Write minor labels explaining things if the worst-case scenario is that your doodle is illegibly bad. The point is to exercise your brain. Record, photograph, edit, canvas it, do whatever engages your creativity. Write down what you are able to and double down. Art is an expression of one’s unexplainable self, and to quantize art into monetary value alone is a crime.

So, the distribution of each work and tool makes you more intentional with that work. A vlog from a phone might be a bit more distracting than a digicam. So pick analog tools more, as they are more intentional. Don’t start or buy them right away; see if what I am saying applies to you or not. Are you distracted by other things when using those features from your phone? Start keeping a sling or small bag to keep your stuff with you, as analog items don’t usually fit in pockets. Spend time alone and you will find how important these tools are to you as an individual.

All of the above has been for making yourself intentional and confident in yourself, and becoming more aware as a self-healing feedback loop [reference the wiki page for system theory feedback loop]. Now, how do you make more genuine, positive relations with people? Such that you keep your environment positive and healthy so it doesn’t worsen your own feedback cycle.

Well, for existing people in your life—the good, the bad, and the ugly—start picking each one and seeing them as humans. Not anything else, just plain and simple humans. Once you are able to establish that, you can choose which ones are worth enough for your energy and their sincerity to become more open and genuine with. Understand their love language and try to replicate it every fortnight, or however you feel is suitable. These days, we have a habit of simply interjecting ourselves into an incident or convo that the other person is trying to convey. In my opinion, focus on the other person fully when they are telling you something. Ask questions. Listen to listen, not to think of a reply.

When it comes to strangers, just start a conversation genuinely. Don’t overthink it—be casual about it. Say hi, notice something about them, and if the conversation naturally drops, let it drop. You don’t have to force yourself to keep it going.

Every moment you slow your brain, you are healing yourself, like a poison leaving your body.

All in all, heal, so you might realize just how much less miserable your life can be, and how smart you actually are. Clear the noise, and see things clearly.

Things to do instead of doomscrolling:

• Keep a mini diary.

  • Write your favorites lists, like moments in a sitcom, types of niche mistakes of your hobby, etc.

  • Write about what people in your circle like, dislike, love language, best moments with them, etc

• Get into a habit or hobby of collecting something nicher everytime of a particular genre.

• Go out and try to create a story for any person you see on the road, try to give it as much depth as you can, after you do, see what does the story contain the visuals from? empathy? anger? jealousy? that is a good way of understanding your emotions as well.