Protect the Content of YourMind
This is a letter to myself and to anybody else who might find it useful or helpful.
Now is the time, more than ever, to protect the content of your mind. You can choose what you think and what you feel. It’s not good enough to be led along, manipulated, enraged, and lied to in the process of mindlessly consuming content. If you do not decide what you want to experience in this world, it will be decided for you.
We all have plastic brains, meaning we can change the way our brains are wired, intentionally and unintentionally. We impact one another just being together. When we talk to others, when we read something, when we go into the world or interact on a subreddit, we are altered, so it’s very important to be aware of how we feel as a consequence of our interactions.
For example, I was in a group therapy session for people who have experienced trauma, and people who have PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other conditions. Some were HIV+, and some had cancer. Some were hoarders, some had weight problems, and some had trouble leaving the house. Some had an abusive parent, child, or partner. Many had a combination of these. It was a very supportive environment but at one point, I started doing goal setting and sharing my progress with the group. I had a creative goal, a fitness goal, and a financial goal. It was common that I had little progress towards my goals to report, but it was still important to me to set goals and to be working towards something. One day, I expressed to the group that I was frustrated in terms of not making progress towards my fitness goal. The group rushed to console me, telling me that I was fine and that I didn’t need to reach my goal. I immediately quit the group. Even though they all had the best intentions in trying to comfort me, I thought it was destructive to be in a therapy group where people encouraged me to give up working towards my goals. I also felt that they were not working towards goals and that by sharing everything that wasn’t working or that was difficult in their lives, that they were probably reinforcing that they would continue to have trouble.
This recounting is not entirely accurate- there were people who would report on the positive steps they had taken. But too often, I felt that others participants in the group were allowed to focus on the negative: what was wrong, what wasn’t working, what was upsetting. I felt that it was the fault of the group leader, and that perhaps she had come to rely on the group herself, and that she enjoyed wallowing in everybody’s self-pity. I don’t think that is healthy. I wonder too, when is it that individual therapy stops being healthy and is more about the therapist making the client dependent on them? It seems like a great therapist should be able to work towards goals of recovery and independence with their clients, and not allow their minds to constantly ruminate about everything that has hurt and is still hurting the client. Whatever we think about, we will continue to think about.
Here are some things you can do to protect the content of your mind:
Disengage from relationships in which you continually feel bad
Turn off your devices and go into nature
Sleep enough
Eat healthy food
Exercise
Meditate
Limit your exposure to news sites, including news on social media
Limit your exposure to social media, especially if it upsets you
Be careful about the movies and shows you watch- know that the content will not upset you