Stealing your attention

When was the last time you were not consciously overstimulated? When you just...sat around, being bored, and actually being okay with being bored? If you can't recall, you most likely are not alone.

My day, perhaps similar to yours, is defined by the consumption of hyper-tailored content through an assortment of screens. Empty calories for the brain, for quick dopamine hits - TikToks of pets being funny interspersed with the most absurd TikTok Lives (where someone streams their iPad playing a game where you feed airplane passengers meals as quickly as possible), to the hottest people doing their bare minimum to lip sync a song clip or a dance - typical, but you get my point. You don't need someone with a degree to tell you it is made to be addictive - hell, I design recommender systems for a living and even I give in easy.

All that to say, insipid content has consumed my everyday, permeated into subconscious habits, to the point that I need to run and grab my phone to even go down load a brown load. Speaking of bathrooms, how many of you love to blast music in the shower? ✋🏽

What do you do in the shower?

There is ample research on how showering is one of the most relaxing and calming personal things you can do. A month ago, some person on twitter asked:

And amongst some answers, was this one, that ratioed it five times over:

One of my favorite TikTok accounts, Jason Pargin, had this awesome response:

Unembedded:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFchR8Pk/

Which is unreservedly valid. Your brain gets to do a lot of thinking in the shower. That's why you feel clear headed after, and why often you have very profound thoughts. It's the whole basis of the (previously popular but now normie) showerthoughts subreddit. Your brain ingests so much content from social media and from your everyday interactions, your routines and your actions, but you barely get any time to thoroughly process it all.

Under the pressure of the water as you clean yourself, you are not being bombarded by any intellectual stimuli. And you can make this experience much better, by trying something rather... unconventional.

Here me out:

Eat a goddamn orange in the shower tomorrow

I'm so serious. The next time you think of blasting some good bangers out in the bathroom and singing to yourself thinking how good you sound, try this. Get an orange if you have one. Unpeeled. Turn the shower on, and get in there with it.

The idea is to create a intense, visceral experience, that you have not just experienced before, but have never even thought of before. In that moment, appreciate the feeling of the texture of the orange in your hand, as water hits your hair and face, and try to be grateful for having been able to get it from the store. Think of how far we have come, to be able to access, grow and distribute a fruit originated in East Asia. Go ahead and peel it.

But Amey I don't wanna peel it in there it's going to be messy!

STFU and do it, that is the point. Breathe in the refreshing citrus oils the rind secretes. Let your animalistic instincts take over, and peel it carelessly. Taste the juices and the fiber. As you eat it, think of how much your thoughts had control over you recently. THIS - IS REAL, not the thoughts.

It's funny how differently your brain thinks when you're not constantly being bombarded by something that needs your attention. Why just wash your body, give your brain and your senses a refresher too.

I tried it, and in that 20 minute period, I felt kinda overcome by strong emotions, I can't articulate exactly what they were, but they felt cathartic. Short-lived, but just... good.