The shenanigans at Twitter have reminded me it's likely a good idea every now and then to disconnect from people or topics that drag my energy down. I may have started following these folks because they had something valuable to say. I need to stop following most of them anyhow. The move to Mastodon is giving me a chance to interact with a different crowd, see different viewpoints, broaden my horizons, and cut back on the amount of time I give this stuff.
I wrote about this before, you know.
Back in 2017 I wrote "The mornings have been staying darker longer and I often get up before the sun. So recently I've been reading the news - pages I enjoy, news sites I trust and so on before going out to my prayers in the trees. But the last few days when I was reading, I noticed I was getting angry. And this mental activity made it harder for me to settle into prayer/meditation later on."
I got used to the vibes at Twitter, even though I rarely posted and blocked heavily to avoid some of the nastier stuff. It wasn't until I shifted over that I realized how strong an effect it had been having on my mental and emotional landscape, not to mention how addictive it can be. I had to leave it to see it more clearly.
I've had a quote sitting on a scrap paper on my desk. It's stayed there because I want to keep it there for a while before it gets lost in the clutter. Ajahn Sucitto says, "It's precious, what we give attention to." He wasn't just talking about bad habits like scrolling Twitter for too long. It's more about what we choose to take in, about taking back our power.
We all know people who hang around with a bad crowd. People or media. The more they spend time with these influences, the more conditioned they become. Their worlds get smaller, with fewer opportunities to see other perspectives. This happens with good crowds, too. We all know people who have high moral standards, and then as they steep themselves in the people and institutions that share their beliefs and ideas, the rest of the world becomes less relevant.
When there's a sea-change like over at Twitter, it seems like a good time for me to use that momentum and step out of the familiar.
To refresh my own inner timeline.
If you want to find me on Mastodon, this is me for as long as I am there: https://mas.to/@jjannie
See also: The Power of Repetition. This helps us find a way to deliberately steep ourselves in more wholesome energies. https://www.janetdane.com/8repeat.html
