Survival, Attention, Relaxation.

(The modern world, artificial world, etc. refers to social media, news, politics, technology, the entertainment industry, advertisements, everything we come to associate capitalism and greed with these days.)

A lot of us are stuck in patterns of defense that come from a mindset of survival and a search for security and peace. The world can feel hostile. Life itself can feel hostile. Unfortunately, the modern world contributes to that. It provides stimulation any way it can to steal our attention. Flicking from one thing to the next, always multiple things in our vision. Reacting, analyzing, judging, making decisions, worrying about the past or future. Your attention is under attack and by extension, so are you.
Think of your attention as a precious currency. Budget it just like you do your time and money. Hoard it, even. You don’t need to or want to spend it all. Keep some for yourself. The modern world demands and commands your attention. You can instead rest it, relax it. Release the tension it imposes on you.

Taking back ownership of this currency, you can choose to shift your focus elsewhere. Away from the constant engagement and into something requiring less effort. What your eyes look at influences a lot of what you spend your attention on. Rest your eyes, look at things that are less engaging. Find calm where it might not be obvious. Coexist with what’s around you.
Rest your focus: There is a large gap between what is strictly necessary to spend our focus on in order to succeed at a task, and the amount of focus we’re capable of spending on it. Take driving as an example: Billboards, bumper stickers, restaurants and businesses, navigation, passing, exiting, turning, frustrating drivers, red lights, traffic jams, music, podcasts, being on time, finding parking, gas prices, pedestrians, and so on (personally, I loathe driving and typing that out has me frazzled already lol). We’re capable of absolutely exhausting ourselves without actually needing to. Let the necessary functions operate and distance yourself from the excess.

This will lighten your mental and emotional burden. By reducing the stimuli and the responses they create in you, you start to reclaim your attention. I know this is a more balanced way of living and inherently more sustainable for your well-being. Spending your attention does not only cost you your attention. The artificial world is trying to tax you. If you’re being taxed then you’re not being relaxed.

Realizing this has helped me understand my struggles better. It puts them in a new context that makes me say, “well, duh!” (complete with a palm to the forehead). I find myself near-mindlessly consuming content or playing games daily. Not without enjoyment, I must add. But at what cost? At what cost to the rest of my attention? I spend energy on it, but at what cost to the rest of my energy? I spend my thoughts and emotions on it, but at what cost to the rest of my thoughts and emotions? I identify with these activities, but at what cost to the rest of my identity?