I have made many resolutions over the years and have learned they are not the most effective way to change long-term behaviour. But I still enter each New Year making a list of things in my life that need improvement. The Atlantic (one of two magazines I subscribe to) asked readers to submit their resolutions for 2023. People said they wanted to
...laugh more
....replace mean thoughts with kind and patient thoughts
...try to be the best person I can be
...stop being a curmudgeon
...talk less and listen more
...do less screen time and more real-world time
...send handwritten notes to family and friends
These are not traditional resolutions about physical self-improvement but an expressed desire to reclaim our humanity. Yesterday I read an excellent book called Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Dr. Anna Lembke. The cover flap says,
“This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.”
The resolutions submitted to The Atlantic were about people wanting to find balance in their lives. The past century brought many changes, but none as rapid as the last twenty years when internet and smartphone use became universal. While these tools can be used for great good, they have dramatically changed how we interact with each other. The pandemic-triggered isolation of the past three years has made us even more dependent on electronic communication. Our nephew gave us an Echo device for Christmas and introduced Alexa to our home. We set up the speaker and practiced giving commands to Alexa. When she completed our request, we would say “thank you” to the cloud-based robot as if it was a human being. I listened to vinyl records into adulthood, our children listened to cassette tapes and then CDs as they got older. Our grandchildren ask a personified smart speaker to play music for them.
We cannot stop change but must adapt in ways that preserve our connections with people and nature, as well as our own bodies, spirit and emotions. I will open a new journal tomorrow morning and start a list of goals for 2023. They will reflect my desire to enjoy balance in all aspects of my life in the coming year.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!!
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