Content. You couldn't avoid it even if you wanted to. All over the internet are "news" pieces, social media feeds, blog posts, video clips- CONTENT is EVERYWHERE.
I love to read but I can't absorb content. I mostly read a title and I feel like I've got it all already. You've probably got all you need just from reading the title of this! I might read a bit more of a piece if it really grabs me, but I'm noticing more often that I'll thumb scroll until I whip the page into a blur. Picking out the odd word here and there at most. It's exhausting. If you've even read this far then you've probably surpassed my ability to absorb content! All around are ideas, opinions, stories. This here will make your life better, this here will make your life worse, this matters, this doesn't matter, you need to do more, less, more while doing less, something, nothing, anything!
Do you know what I want right this moment in the way of content? Nothing. I have the sound of the wind blowing outside my window. The little fountain for the cat water bowl is burbling away happily. The tink tink of the fire cooling. And weirdly, a single holdout autumn cricket making a sound like a sporadic squeaky wheel. It's not peaceful exactly, there is still a hum and a busyness to it all. But it's not hungry. It doesn't have a burning need to say something or be heard. There is no seeking.
Because that's how I feel sometimes. Hungry. Like my brain has a stomach that can only be filled with content. It wasn't always that way. It's like wanting coffee or something, once upon a time, you'd never even thought about it and then soon enough it is a daily requirement.
But now I've trained my brain to be content hungry. And obviously, it's worse now with all the quarantines and lockdowns. The world is no longer accessible except through my phone. I itch to pick it up and open up that app or that web browser. I need to be informed. I want to be entertained. I have the constant desire to improve myself and I just know the world full of content can provide me with everything I could possibly need to do that. I could cook something new, learn about people in other countries, upskill in a craft, ponder conspiracy theories, improve my business, join an online course. I can't even attempt to avoid it because of work, I need to be current and aware and even a creator of content myself.
My head is abuzz with buzzwords. My periphery is enticed by clickbait.
I could strategise, develop actionable ideations, or just plain PIVOT - because don't you know, that digital transformation is looming and the nano-influencer zillennials will take over the internet, the bots will be defeated and then it will all be over!
Okay so maybe I'm being a tad dramatic. I'm sure there are good reasons beyond the push behind content that makes it difficult to absorb information. I know from my previously documented failure at isolation learning with my child that there is a particular issue with device education that makes it difficult to concentrate. And here's me, with my fully developed brain, feeling like my attention is a leaf on the wind- yet I had hoped my child would have the mental fortitude to focus which I myself cannot muster- ha!
And hey, well- I'm a writer, it's who I am and what I do. But the things that matter the most to me, I don't post. I write for me. I have no agenda. I'm passionate and enjoy the steam of consciousness that flows from me when I start writing. I'm all about wellbeing and my experience of reflection and the awareness that arises from the writing process that opens my mind to possibilities. It just plain feels good.
But what if I did post? Dare I contribute another voice to the roiling sea of content?
I don't have any advice or good stories or anything that might actually be useful to you here. I'm merely going to pose some questions.
Can content be real? Can I be real? If I speak my mind, does it matter if no one connects? Can I be poetic one day and scientific the other? Can I inform, entertain, or maybe even
just for fun, ramble on about nothing on the odd occasion?
Today I will click post and find out ;)