Five Weeks of No Social Media and Alcohol

Reasons you need a "dopamine sabbatical"

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Something to Read: What I Learned With 5 Weeks of No Social Media and Alcohol

They say moderation is the avoidance of excess. 

And excess is the amount of something that is more than necessary.

But who defines what is more than necessary? Where is the line drawn? Who creates the boundaries?

You do. You’re the arbitrator. It’s your job to be in control.

We can agree that [as a society] we’ve become slaves to our impulses. Notifications control our attention span and processed foods are created to be hard to put down.

A number of influences led me down this 5 week period of abstinence from some of my own vices — I call it Detox December. 

So What Did I Experience?

The first noticeable change was the feeling of true presence. 

I don’t say that to sound superficial, but when you don’t have Instagram and Twitter to check 100 times a day you feel different.

In line at Walmart. At a red light. Hell — even on the toilet I was aware of my thoughts more. Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson calls this solitude.

“To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

To truly be in solitude, we must rid ourselves of the pressures and influences of society. The common example of solitude is sitting alone a room, but it’s more so anytime where you have no outside influences to distract you.

So instead of keeping up with over 1000 people’s lives, I began scrolling through industry articles, newsletters I’m subscribed to, email strings, things that bring genuine value to my well-being. I found myself using my phone less and less.

“One of the things that smartphones introduced to the human condition was the ability to banish every last moment where you could be alone with your thoughts”

Cal Newport

I was sucked into the party scene from the age of 17 and I can’t think of any period longer than 2 weeks where I didn’t consume some type of alcohol.

That may surprise some, but as 2021 trickled along I felt less and less of a desire to drink.

There were occasions where I still found myself in bars and clubs. I still went out for birthdays, but I had tonic and lime in my hand and made it clear that I wasn’t touching anything beer, wine, or liquor.

Now ask yourself, am I going out because I want to? Or is it because I want to hang out with my friends and they want to be here?

Are there ways I can ease my nerves that doesn't revolve around pouring myself a cocktail?

How can I be better at holding myself to a higher standard?

Can I set boundaries around my drinking and phone use?

Am I easy to fold under peer pressure?

These are all questions I still ask myself week after week.

This is not a call to action to be a monk and never touch a gin & tonic ever again, but more of a reminder to enforce moderation in all areas of your life.

Something to Watch:

DOPAMINE DETOX | How To Take Back Control Over Your Life

A Song to Listen to:

DRAMA - Hopes Up (Official Video)

Listen to this track and many others on La Fórmula, a playlist by Modern Analects

A Tweet to Think About:

If you enjoyed anything above — make sure to share with others and spread whatever you feel was valuable.

And make sure to follow all things Analects on Instagram and Twitter.

Until next week.