I opened social media one day this week, expecting to see people fighting over politics, the role of AI in publishing or any number of other things.
But I was pleasantly surprised to see that a band I like is releasing a new album, a ton of posts about Opening Day in baseball – always a national holiday in my book, a book recommendation from a friend and a radio station quoting 2 Timothy 1:7 and a post from a librarian who says she randomly hides motivational notes inside books.
That seemed like a good time to make an exit. Not that I’m immune from doomscrolling. But at this particular time, I didn’t succumb to it.
Have you noticed that social media feeds now seem to default to “For You” rather than “Following”? It almost feels like an intentional attempt to pull us into waters we haven’t chosen to swim in.
I’ve been intentional about curating who I follow on social media. And that helps, assuming I switch the feed to the people I actually follow. Either way, it seems like we’re prone to expect the worst, and even when we find it, we stick around for it.
Depending on the voices you listen to right now, the world is on fire (and parts of it are), March Madness is the most important thing happening or you’ve tuned everything out and assumed you’re better off for it.
I’m not sure any of these voices or mindsets are helpful. The first can make you bitter and the other two can make you apathetic.
Maybe the better way isn’t found in choosing one to the exclusion of the others, but instead, refusing to get pulled in by everything we see or hear. We can notice what is good and redemptive without pretending everything is fine, while also acknowledging what is broken without spiraling.
As I write that, someone is tapping on the floor over my head. That isn’t uncommon for the family with two children who lives in the apartment above us. In fact, tapping on the floor is mild, but it’s enough on this occasion to pull me out of my train of thought.
Automatically, I picked up my phone and began to scroll. Sure enough, the first thing I came across was a fight over a celebrity. I set my phone back down. Then my cat started howling, as she’s prone to do lately, so I went to see if I could calm her down.
As I sat back down, I realized it was a snapshot of life. Noise, both literal and figurative, of all types surrounds us, and it’s unavoidable. We can either allow it to drown out what is good and redemptive, or we can choose to set up shop in what is good and redemptive, even as the noise carries on around us.
I chose to slide on my earbuds and listen to “Made by These Moments” by The Red Clay Strays, knowing it would be 42 minutes of better noise.
