RevSpeaks
I was this many days old when I learned the term, “doomscrolling.” I’m not sure who originally coined that term, but the Urban Dictionary defines it as, “Obsessively reading social media posts about how utterly [screwed] we are.”
I’ve been a doomscroller, and I’m trying to change my ways. This is proving to be difficult. Getting into my car yesterday, NPR was playing the hearings for the potential Supreme Court Justice. It’s hard to not get sucked into it all. Tension in my neck and shoulders increased as I drove until I realized that I had control over this situation! By simply pushing the arrow for the “find a new station” I was able to select some MUSIC for a change! MUSIC to loudly sing as I made my way down the road, freeing myself from the latest news broadcast AND from the tension and anxiety that I was inviting in.
The other term learned recently is “hopequesting.” For me this is doomscrolling on steroids – scrolling quickly by the “death and doom” postings on Facebook or Twitter to find the hope. The hope in the photos shared by friends. Finding and stopping at the photos of pets and flowers, sunrises and sunsets. The moments of sharing about children and grandparents. The birthday, graduation, anniversary, and wedding celebrations. “Hopequesting” for those funny things, real things and silly things – memes and poems and stories.
“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
Keep the hope, my friends. Keep loving and sharing and being kind. Be gentle with yourselves and others. We can be the change we hope to see in the world.
Rev. Sharon
