I.

I check my notifications.
A friend has invited me to an event.
That friend just went on a cruise.
Cruise ships have lots of art.
I share some of the art with a cousin.

II.

I check my notifications.
An artist has released a new song.
An extravagant dance show appears.
Followed by my friend’s dog in an airport.
I wish her well on her journey.

III.

I check my notifications.
Ladies my age are dancing together.
I click to learn more.
This costs too much.
I close the app.

IV.

I check my notifications,
Then put down my phone.

V.

I turn off notifications.

Having crawled out from under several oppressive substances and problematic behavior patterns, I find myself, as a sober addict, routinely losing hours staring at my phone, looking at one carefully cultivated offering after another, having once again failed to get to “the end of the internet.” 

At least with drugs or alcohol, or even with food, sooner or later, I would run out of whatever it was. I’d have to leave where I was to get more. Even then, I would eventually run out of money to buy more. I’d have to stop and sell something or go to work at a job. Finally, there was a limit to what I could consume. I would ultimately pass out, dead to the world for half a day or longer. 

Amusing content, on the other hand, seems to be absolutely limitless and costs me only what I would already pay to use my telephone and household electricity. I need not approach any unsavory characters to purchase illegal items. I need not drive into seedy neighborhoods under the cover of night. I don’t even need to stop some of the things I’m doing to keep the entertainment flowing. 

So much content is actually uplifting, educational, useful, clever, pleasant, friendly, cooperative, neighborly, organized, delightful, cheerful, innovative, enlightening, good-natured, festive, revealing, advisory, edifying, and lovely; that I hardly remember to feel guilty for the hours I pour into the small black box in my hand. 

Surely I must be enhanced by reading quotes by Ghandi and poems by Rumi; by listening to guided meditations by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield; and by watching self-help videos by Gabor Mate, Brene Brown, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. If watching 5 videos is good, watching 10 must be better, right? Well, it turns out 1 video might be too many because 1000 won’t be enough and I have outrageously easy access to that thousand and a thousand thousand more. 

I invite you now to join me in turning off your notifications wherever and whenever you can. The living, breathing world needs you. 

*Nelson, P. (1993). “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters” from There’s a hole in my sidewalk: The romance of self-discovery. New World Library.

Dr. Marlo Archer is a fellow of the American Society of Group Psychotherapy & Psychodrama and a Certified Supervisor with the International Deliberate Practice Society, actively engaged in training the next generation of experiential healers.