I’ve spent extensive time over the last five years in Detroit, Michigan, living there for periods, and visiting family. I can safely say, while I love Detroit, it’s not for me to call home. 

However, despite knowing that I wouldn’t live there permanently, there is one place that lives in my heart forever, that I think fondly of every Saturday, and that is the Eastern market farmers market. 

The Eastern market, located just outside downtown Detroit, is hands down the greatest farmers market I have ever been to, and while my dad says there are a few out there that are better, he’s yet to take me to any of them. 

The eastern market is my Disneyland. It’s one of my most favorite places on earth, and I can’t help but feel like all my friends are in the same place every time I visit.

My friends, the American farmers. 

It’s no secret to most that the American food system is and has been in jeopardy for a long time. If covid taught us anything, it’s that our food systems are weak, and any little bump in the road could cause the system to collapse, leaving many without access to the food they need to survive. The solution to this is simple, but not easy. We have to put the power back in the hands of the people, back into the hands of the consumer, and most importantly we have to put the dollar back in the hand of the American farmer. 

There is something so unique and special about the relationship one can cultivate with their farmer when they really get to know them. I was pondering this on my very long drive from Detroit to Atlanta. 

I had a trunk full of food. I came back with a ½ bushel of apples, 15 pounds of beef, four dozen eggs, three bags of flour, three different raw cheeses, a bag of locally made granola, and a few other assorted items. I was so excited about this haul and had been waiting until I could get up to Detroit on a Saturday so I could stock up on the things I had been missing. 

I bit into an apple that I bought from Travis and was immediately reminded why I love them-and him- so much. These are the best apples I’ve ever had. They’re sweet and tart with a slightly lemon-y taste. They’re reminiscent of the sweet tart candy, truly, and they are appropriately named “Ludacrisp”. I have never had a better apple, especially not down south. 

As I was enjoying this apple I was genuinely overcome with my love and affection for these people that grow and make my food. I began to think about how truly fortunate I was, how truly miraculous it was that I had just had an extensive conversation with my apple guy about his wife and family. His wife was nine months pregnant, due any day, they were having twins, he was so excited, but nervous, like he was for the first baby, but even more so this time. These are their 4th and 5th babies. We had brought him some old children’s books the boys were no longer reading, and he was thrilled. We talked about thanksgiving, the magic of the holidays, the excitement of the new babies, how the other children were feeling about the babies, how my travels had been, and anything else we could think of. Then, I bought my half a bushel of apples, and carried on my way. Not to sound dramatic, but I felt like I could taste the love in the apples. How special it was to know that Travis had grown these apples on his family farm, that they were his favorite apples, although sometimes the kids prefer the less tart varieties they grow, how lucky I was to experience this farm to table moment. 

I came on a mission for four things. Beef, apples, cheese, and flour. I walked up to Hyatt farms, so excited to see Denis, and Emma, but mostly excited for the ground beef. Five dollars a pound for the best ground beef you’ll ever eat. Sometimes it feels too good to be true. I lived off ground beef and scrambled eggs when I was in Detroit and I had missed it since leaving.

Dennis and I were happy to see each other as we also talked about my travels and where I was headed next. I told him I had traveled specifically to stock up on ground beef. We laughed and chatted for several minutes and I left with a big full of meat to last me the next few months. 

I headed to Randy next, our milk guy. He may have been the most excited to see me. He appreciates my affinity for vintage dresses and says that I remind him of the women he knew in the 90’s back when we saw more traditional displays of femininity more often. This was a special moment for me, and from then on, he would often compliment whatever vintage dress I had dawned that day. He also grows the best flour and cornmeal I’ve ever had, and sells the greatest raw cheese and milk. His face lit up when I approached, and we, too, talked for several minutes before I stocked up and left. 

The meaningfulness of these connections may seem exaggerated, but this is what food is supposed to be. This is what food was for the longest time. It’s only recently that we’ve begun to lose sight of the connection from the farmer to consumer, and even before then we were the farmers ourselves. In a world where we hardly know where our food comes from anymore, to get to have such close personal relationships with my farmers means the world to me, and I share these stories in hopes that you too can build these relationships with your local farmer as well. Become a regular somewhere. Shop local as often as you can. Frequent the local farmers market. Big changes don’t happen overnight. They happen through small changes over time. 

It’s been almost 10 years since my first high school band concert, although I remember it well. I was very nervous. I was a band kid through and through. I was hooked since my first day of band camp my freshman year. 

Band was something special. Not every kid participated, and not every kid felt about it the way I did, but the ones who understood, were some of my best friends. 

Band was not just an extra curricular activity that we did reluctantly because our parents asked us to, or something that appealed to the college board. Band was a way of life. I didn’t participate in a ton of extracurriculars outside of band, but having gotten older I can guess that this is not a unique feeling to band kids. Every student who was actively a part of something, not just coasting by, probably felt the experience that I did, and learned the lessons that I learned. 

Band taught us how to conduct and present ourselves as a group. We learned how to organize ourselves accordingly before walking on stage, sit down seamlessly at the same time, make sure each instrument was facing the same way and resting in the same position, pick up the instrument at the same time and make music together. Tune to the ear of those around you for a harmonious sound, and act as one. 

We learned how to take pride in our appearance, a well kept uniform, black shoes, simple elegant jewelry, no nails, nothing flashy, nothing that set one apart from the crown that might detract from the audience experience. It was about discipline, and respect for your peers in the band. We took pride and comfort in knowing that each person there was putting in the same kind of effort you were. We strived to motivate each other, hold practice sessions as a group, and encourage one another to do better. 

I spent hours upon hours with these people throughout my high school experience. They made me a better person, and they taught me so much. I don’t believe that I am alone in this experience. I am sure that most others who participated diligently in team activities feel this way about their team sport, and have experiences exclusive to the culture of their respective activity. 

In my opinion, and experience, these are the only things that make high school worth it. It’s these activities, not the education, that play such important roles in shaping the young minds of students into who they are going to become.

Tonight, however, after attending a high school band concert almost 10 years after my first high school band concert, things were different. 

At times I feel like I live in an echo chamber. My two younger brothers are homeschooled and I spend so much time with others who feel the way I do about the public education system I almost forget that there are those out there who still believe in it. Not only do they believe in it, they trust it enough to turn their kids over to it. The thought horrifies me. And it should horrify you too. 

Tonight I witnessed a group of students so incapable of conducting themselves properly I couldn’t believe it. All sense of decorum and dignity seemed to fly out the window. Kids clambered on stage noisily in between bands, playing their instruments haphazardly while awaiting their band director, who could not have been much older than me, to give them further instruction. I watched a child walk on to the stage, pull his phone out of his pocket to check it, and then sit down in his chair before playing. I watched girls giggle and chatter in between songs on stage, I heard children laugh and chat endlessly in the audience while their fellow peers performed. A student in a reindeer onesie lept out on stage in front of everyone to solo on the slapstick during Sleigh ride, while another student put on a horse mask to then mimic the “neigh” sound featured on the trumpet at the end of the song. 

This had nothing to do with the music. Rather the music was good or bad, the attitude and general demeanor of the group should stay the same. Integrity should be present everywhere you try your best, and I did not see these kids try their best. 

I began to ponder, if you asked any of these kids what they cared about most in the world I wonder what it would be. What do their dreams and fantasies look like, what motivates them to work hard, what encourages them to do better and keep growing?

I bet many of them wouldn’t have answers. 

While it may not seem obvious on the surface, this feels intrinsically connected to the health of our young people. It’s my belief that the over medicated and overly processed world we live in is creating kids who are not going to be able to function in society in a healthy way. Of course, this isn’t a new thing, and it’s not just the medications and the foods we consume, it’s the parenting and the way they’re raised. It seems clear to me that we have a grown generation of children who are already so damaged from the processed foods and the medications, and the environmental toxins, that they, in turn, are unable to raise a generation of healthy kids. Kids today are sicker than ever, with higher rates or depression, autism, obesity, and chronic illness many are beginning to wonder where we went wrong.

They’ve never known anything but the mediation for every problem, but corn flakes and fruit loops for breakfasts, dozens of vaccines since birth, and they’re turning around and producing children even more damaged than themselves. 

I’m not the only one who feels this way. Teachers have reported an increase in uncontrollable children who are simply unable to control themselves. Students who can’t handle the word “no”, Students who can’t self-regulate when they don’t get their way, students who will not be able to emerge into society as functioning adults at the rate that they are going. 

Many don’t seem to know the solution to this, however the solution is simple. Simple, but not easy. Fix the food. Get rid of the medications, and learn to use the word “No”. 

The behavior I saw exhibited over two hours at a high school band concert instilled a new confidence in me at my choice to homeschool my kids. While I don’t have children yet, I can say with certainty, one thing I will never do is subject them to the kind of horrors that seem to go on in public school in this day and age. 

We don’t want normal kids any more. That seems to be the argument for public schooling. “I want normal kids”. What does that even mean anymore? Normal has skewed so far beyond what we once thought that you are sure to find more traditional normalcy in a kid who grew up barefoot on a farm than a kid who made it through all 12 years of public school. I know I’m not alone in this and I am hopeful for a future generation that experiences more home schooling, and less public schooling. 

I believe that Bobby Kennedy single handedly won Trump the presidential election. While he has many great forces behind him, and the endorsement of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan certainly didn’t hurt, I don’t think that he would have won the election without the endorsement and avid support of Robert F Kennedy Jr. 

While the holistic health folks are celebrating the win of Bobby, and celebrating even further still at the nomination of Bobby as the secretary of the HHS, many are dreading this decision and the changes that are (hopefully) to come from this choice. 

Those who primarily follow mainstream media outlets may have fallen for the narrative that Kennedy wants to remove all the processed food from your grocery store shelves, and ensure that no child ever receives a vaccine again. Many believe his ideas to be radical and dangerous, and more still think he is not to be trusted. 

However, I think that the election of Kennedy into the department of HHS is one of the best things to happen to this country in a long time. The Make America Healthy Again campaign is not something to fear, but is rather, a deeply necessary movement for the future of our children. We are headed down a dangerous path. With obesity numbers higher than ever, and chronic illness running rampant through our country, we have to ask the question why. We also have to ask the question why us? Other countries don’t seem to be struggling with the obesity and chronic disease epidemic that we are. 

It’s my belief, and one might see this as a logical conclusion to make, that the reason our country struggles so much more with these issues than other is because of the laundry list of toxic pollutants and chemicals, in, on and around our food that are banned in other countries. Additionally, our lack of education, and the environment our kids grow up in, has resulted in a generation of kids who are practically sedentary. 

For what it’s worth, Kennedy does not want to ban vaccines, and fast food. He does however want to remove fluoride from the water, and if this scares you, your research is about 30 years behind. Fluoride can lower IQ’s and result in the calcification of the pineal gland over time, and it needs to go. For the record, I, like many holistic people don’t want to ban vaccines or fast food. What we want, what I think most of us want and what we hope Kennedy will do, is create a world where we are not judged, ridiculed or shamed for the way we choose to raise our kids. A world where people understand us when we say we’ve chosen not to vaccinate, or our kids don’t eat Yellow #5 or Red #40, and we’re not at risk for losing our kids and most importantly, a world where those who don’t have the time or desire to feed their kids the way we do, are not actively poisoning their children. 

We’re not into shaming. I’m not judging you for buying your kids corn flakes. I’m not judging you for picking up fast food for dinner, again, because you’re just too tired to cook. I want us all to live in a world where if you choose to do that for your family, the government is protecting you from the chemicals that you’re currently consuming without awareness, where informed consent is REAL, and you really and truly know what you’re getting yourself into when you get your child vaccinated or when you accept that hormonal birth control prescription. We are hoping that RFK moves us in the direction of a happier healthier society, because what we have right now isn’t working. 

Women operate on a 28 day hormone cycle composed of four phases, the menstrual phase, the follicular phase, the ovulatory phase, and the luteal phase. 

Most women are probably familiar with the menstrual phase, and the ovulatory phase but many are not taught about all four phases in school, or how they affect the body, and each phase can affect the body in very drastic ways. Women can go through life feeling completely different week to week without even knowing why. If you’ve ever experienced the feeling of being on top of the world for a week, and then down in the slumps the next with no real logic or reasoning behind it, odds are you’re just transitioning from your ovulation phase to the luteal phase. These phases can go so far as to alter our face shape, in addition to our weight, and mood, so no, it’s not all in your head. 

I was one of those women who grew up not knowing about each of these four phases or really having any understanding of how my body worked and what it was designed to do. It took years of my adult life to learn this information and get in tune enough with my body to embrace these changes that we go through every month. 

I’ve broken down the four phases of the menstrual cycle below. While researching for this article it became clear to me that we are still learning about a lot of this information. Women’s health has not been researched or studied the same way men have. It just recently became known that women do in fact need more sleep than men, and the amount of sleep they need may vary at different times of the month. It seemed clear to me through my reading that the human body is complex, and this is a fluid cycle with some phases overlapping each other, some phases shorter, some longer but all equally important. 

The menstrual phase: 

The menstrual phase begins on the first day of your cycle and lasts anywhere between 3-7 days. Typically 3-5 days is considered healthy, 7 days is normal. Any longer than that is an indicator that your hormones are unbalanced, or a symptom of a greater problem. The menstrual phase is the shedding of the uterine lining to rid the body of the unfertilized egg. 

We’re all familiar with this. We often feel cranky and exhausted because our body is working over time. That being said, the menstrual cycle doesn’t have to be a time of extreme pain or discomfort. With a healthy diet and lifestyle, cramps can be eliminated. This is a great time to rest a little more than you usually would. Maybe do some yoga rather than a HITT class (although if you have the energy for an intensive workout, by all means go with the flow) This is a great time to get an extra hour of sleep at night or even take a nap if your lifestyle allows for it. Warm easy to digest foods can be a comfort during this phase of your cycle. 

Unfortunately, we live in a world where most people are forced to work all day outside the home regardless of the phase of their cycle, and they are constantly going against their body’s intuition, and are often expected to perform at the same level as they would in their follicular or ovulatory phase when their energy levels are higher. 

It is my personal opinion that this has created a generation of women who are both entirely out of tune with their natural cycles, and also deeply hateful towards their natural cycles, thinking of them as something to be suppressed and avoided at all costs instead of what really is- the ability to create and grow life, which is undoubtedly the greatest gift.  

During the menstrual phase the body is shedding its uterine lining to release your body’s unfertilized egg. It is common during this phase to gain weight, although it is mostly water weight and will come back off in your follicular phase. 

Follicular phase:

Your follicular phase is the longest phase in the menstrual cycle, it begins on the first day of menstruation and ends when you begin ovulation. On the tail end of your follicular phase, after menstruation ends you will likely notice your energy levels start to rise again. Your follicular phase is responsible for your egg being released from the ovaries for fertilization. One egg will reach maturity faster than the others and will be released from the ovarian follicles, through the fallopian tube. During this time, your body transitions into ovulation, and the egg is either fertilized and you become pregnant, or the egg dies and is released during your period. 

Ovulation phase:

This is typically your highest energy time of your cycle, and obviously, when you are ovulating. Your ovulation cycle is actually the only time you can get pregnant during your cycle, and your ovulation phase is typically around six days. During your ovulation phase your body is releasing an egg from your ovaries to allow it the opportunity to be fertilized. This time period is only 24-48 hours generally, and if the egg is not fertilized in this time, it will die, and be released during your period. The entire ovulation phase lasts about 6 days. Sperm can last in the uterus for up to 6 days before it dies, and if you have active sperm in your uterus within your ovulation window, then there is a good chance your egg will be fertilized. 

This is important for cycle tracking and syncing. If you’re using the family planning method of birth control, it is imperative to know when your ovulation window is so you know when you are most at risk of getting pregnant. 

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your current situation, this is when women naturally have the highest libido. Your body is quite literally preparing itself for sex, because this is the time when you should have sex in order to get pregnant. Try as you might, biology can be hard to fight. You may notice your libido increase during this time, your discharge may become thinner, and there may be more of it, and if you track your body’s basal body temperature, you’ll notice a slight increase in temperature around this time. 

Ovulation typically takes place 14 days before menstruation, in a healthy 28 day cycle. As previously mentioned, this is typically the highest energy phase of your cycle. This is a great time for intensive cardio or HITT workouts. Women often talk about feeling “unstoppable” or “on top of the world” during the ovulation phase, many women experience an increase in dopamine, and overall happy feelings. 

Many women, even those who are not particularly in tune may notice a difference in their appearance, or feel more attractive during ovulation. We’ve all felt the menstruation slump, feeling kind of blah right before or on your period but not everyone is in tune enough to experience the opposite while ovulating. But if you have ever experienced this- it’s not just you, and it’s not all in your head. There’s a kind of aura one radiates during ovulation- an aura of fertility. On a biological level, fertility is very attractive to people. It’s a sign of health, youth, and vitality. You’re less bloated, we experience an increase in estrogen, which can quite literally make your skin “glow” some women even notice a very subtle change in their face shape, and if you have a partner who is very in tune, and you live a natural lifestyle, they may even be able to smell when you’re ovulating as our pheromones can change slightly, making us smell better to certain people. 

Luteal phase: 

The luteal phase is the last phase of your cycle occurring after ovulation. The uterine lining and cervical mucus thicken to either prepare for pregnancy or to be shed and the egg is released into the uterus either for fertilization or to be released from the body. This is the phase of your cycle where you’re likely to experience PMS symptoms. Estrogen and progesterone levels rise. At this point either the egg is fertilized and ready for pregnancy, or you shed your uterine lining and begin the process over again. 

As this is the phase where you experience “PMS” fatigue, irritability and bloating are all common symptoms of this phase of your cycle. Taking B vitamins regularly leading up to your luteal phase and through your period can help alleviate some of the worse symptoms of your luteal phase, including mood swings and premenstrual depression. Eating a balanced and diverse diet full of whole foods and vegetables, and generally living a healthy lifestyle can also help eliminate these symptoms. If you do all these things, and still find that you are fatigued or drained during this time of the month, that is common and even normal. An extra hour of sleep or an afternoon nap if possible can help with this. Sometimes the best thing you can do is listen to your body, especially if your body is generally functioning at healthy optimum levels. 

BIrth Control:

Just in case you were wondering- hormonal birth control negates ALL of this. Hormonal birth control doesn’t even allow for ovulation. 

In fact, hormonal birth control only works because it prevents the natural process of ovulation, making sure the egg cannot be fertilized. There has been all sorts of research to indicate that hormonal birth control can radically change our bodies’ natural cycles, and affect us in radical ways, down to who we’re attracted to. 

Research indicates that women on hormonal birth control are typically attracted to less “manly” men, or men who are lower in testerone. There have been instances of women getting off hormonal birth control and later breaking up with their partners because they are no longer attracted to them, having had their preferences so skewed that they were with someone who did not align with their actual natural preferences in a partner. The book “Your Brain on Birth Control” talks more about this phenomenon. 

Each of our hormonal phases serves a different purpose and has value. Modern conditions and health standards have painted a picture of a tortured 10 days of mood swings, followed by bleeding, and cramps. Just because this is the prevailing narrative doesn’t mean that this is healthy or normal. Women can experience pain free periods, and menstruation can be a time to honor your body’s natural gift of bearing children. Even I have a hard time with this, it feels each month when my period comes around I’m once again reminded that I am no step closer to having a baby, and the bleeding isn’t what’d I’d call fun or comfortable, but still it doesn’t have to be a miserable week and you can do everything your normally would, without the need for pain medication or hormonal birth control. Learning about these phases is an important step to getting in tune with your body. 

The negative side effects of pornography have long been known by psychologist as well as most of the general public. One of the most prominent side effects that men experience is desensitization to the content that they consume. The longer they watch porn, often times the more intense the content has to become in order to achieve the same satisfaction, escalating until real human connection no longer satisfies you, and you’re only left with extremely graphic and intense content just to try and feel something. 

This has been talked about at length, but recently, it occured to me that we’re experiencing this everywhere in all facets of life. Humans are becoming desensitized to their emotions more and more everyday. 

Recently while driving around with my 15 year old sister, she asked me if she could put on her podcast, I said yes, actually excited by the idea of her listening to something besides y2k pop.                 

That excitement didn’t last long as we began listening to a woman recount in great graphic detail the history of a certain famous serial killer while she applied her makeup. I, to say the least, was horrified and disturbed. My sister, on the other hand, was enthralled. 

Now this is nothing new. Obviously this woman has built a following on people consuming this content, no matter how twisted you may think it is, and of course, we’ve been listening to murder mystery podcasts and watching “who done it” shows for decades. But the question is why? I think once upon a time, the idea of the this kind of content consumption would be horrifying to the average person. Only very disturbed people were interested in this kind of information. 

We’ve been discussing since the early 90s the effects of violent video games on a child’s psyche and rather or not violence in TV and video games can desensitize you to real life violence (evidence would suggest yes, it likely does) And now, it seems like we’re only seeing more violence portrayed in media that we were 30 years ago. 

Now this really isn’t about becoming desensitized to violence. It’s much broader than that. I would argue that as a society we’re become desensitized to everything. 

I think the biggest example of this is social media, and the way we consume content. Scrolling on social media releases dopamine by activating the brain’s reward pleasure system. Unfortunately, this is a rather unnatural way to release dopamine, and over time we become addicted to these quick fixes, giving us instant dopamine hits. Just like a regular drug addict, after time we need more and more to achieve the same effect, but this isn’t just “more” in terms of quantity. It’s more flashy, more instant gratification, louder and more dramatic content needed to grab our attention and release the same dopamine hit. 

“Doing things that are hard is one of the best ways to pursue a life worth living, because the pleasure we get afterwards is more enduring,”

–Constant craving: how digital media turned us all into dopamine addicts

The immediate access to instant pleasure is a problem worth talking about, however, I think there’s another deeper layer here contributing to our desensitization that makes this a two-fold issue. 

The number of people on antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other psychiatric drugs has skyrocketed over the last several decades, and I largely believe that this is a huge contributor to our desensitization. While these drugs are often used for their ability to alleviate depression, these drugs can alleviate all emotions, leaving us a shell of our former self, maybe not sad anymore, but maybe not much of anything else. Unable to feel intense joy, sorrow, or anything in between. 

“This flattening of feelings, also called “reduced affect,” is a potential side effect of antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Around half of people taking antidepressants report some degree of blunted emotions, according to research.[1] “

-All About Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Types, Side Effects, and More

As a society we have two things working against us at once. Theses drugs, numbing our emotions, and this huge influx of instant dopamine at our fingertips. It’s a perfect combination for an overly addicted, numbed, zombie-like society. 

The questions is what can we do about it? It seems many of these things are unavoidable, and in a way they are. It’s hard to get by in the modern world without a smartphone. 

I think the answer is to start small. Fine offline hobbies, try leaving your phone at home when you’re going somewhere you won’t need it. I often like to leave mine at home when I’m going out with my parents or other close family members. Try a social media detox. I recently did this and found it to be enlightening. You can read more about my experience with that here. Try engaging with your peers in the real world without a screen in your hand, talk to a stranger at a coffee shop. Imagine what life would be like, what you would do if you didn’t have a phone, and then try that. 

I’m not perfect. I can’t tell you how many times I stopped what I was doing to check my phone in the middle of writing this article. As a matter of fact, I’m sitting outside a coffee shop right now writing, rather than engaging with the world around me (sometimes you have to work) but last weekend I went to a party with my family and left my phone at home. Last week I lost my phone and decided to let it be lost when I went to bed. I found it again the next morning, and nothing bad happened. 

Being aware of these issues is, in my opinion, one of the crucial first steps to making changes to the world we live in. 

• Emotional Desensitization to Violence Contributes to Adolescents’ Violent Behavior
• Constant craving: how digital media turned us all into dopamine addicts
• Emotional Desensitization to Violence Contributes to Adolescents’ Violent Behavior

I pride myself on being virtually vice free. There’s that old expression, “everyone has a vice”. I contemplate this sometimes and wonder what my vice might be. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t even drink coffee, I don’t watch porn, I don’t eat junk food, I work out often, I like to read and I enjoy the sauna, and I don’t even really watch TV. In fact, I don’t even own a TV. I don’t use TikTok, I don’t use snapchat. I used to spend a lot of time scrolling on Tumblr but I managed to kick that habit as well. I don’t look down upon those who don’t do those things, I’m just striving for a life of optimization, and eliminating these things help me feel my best, and allows me to channel my energy into more important things And I’m happy, happier than almost people I know my age. 

But there is that *one* little thing. 

I spend upwards of an hour and a half a day on instagram. 

And I feel really bad about myself when I do. 

I can justify this in a few ways. I’ve moved away from a lot of friends, instagram is a place to keep up with them! 

But am I really keeping up with them? 

My reels are great, they’re full of homesteading and recipe videos!

Yeah but how often a day do the mind numbing videos creep in and take you down a rabbit hole you shouldn’t be in. 

Multiple times. 

And at the end of the day, how much time did you spend on instagram that could’ve been spent doing something more productive. A chapter of a book, working on an article, going to the gym or playing with the dog. 

So I’ve decided delete instagram off my phone for 30 days. 

I don’t expect this to be easy for me, and I don’t know what my plans are after these 30 days are up. I love to post photos like a digital journal to look back on, and I probably will keep doing that. My friends send me videos but I think I can live without them, and I think once I kick the doom scrolling habit, I won’t miss much.

I recently challenged myself to buy no new clothes or house wares for a month and that was difficult at first but then it become sort of freeing, and since then I’ve been much more intentional about what I purchase. 

So if I do go back to instagram after 30 days, I’m hoping that this can serve as somewhat of a mental reset and provide some intention for me when I return. 

DAY 1

Upon day one I was quite sure that I needed this challenge because I realized over several hours in the car (I drive a lot for work) I wanted to check instagram at EVERY red light! A reflex, a switch in my brain, the car has stopped, time to check instagram, and every time I had to remind myself that it was no longer on my phone. 

Sounds a little bit like a junkie if you ask me. 

So now instead I will occasionally check my todo list, or better yet, not touch my phone. 

On day 2 I woke up and journaled, which I usually do anyways, after about 30 minutes of instagram scrolling while sill in bed. I try not expose myself to the light early in the morning by keeping a red light filter on, but if something interesting enough captures my eye, I’ll turn it off, and then I’m even more likely to get sucked into the doom scrolling. 

One day I’d love to start my mornings barefoot in the grass but I live in Detroit and there’s broken glass in my back yard and it just doesn’t quite have the ideal Set up for barefoot mornings and sunlight.

So I started my day without instagram and by 9am I have made breakfast, talked to our route driver and sent the route to her, checked the emails, journaled, made some big batches of ginger lemonade, prepared 3 loaves of bread for the next stage of proofing, cleaned the kitchen, and written this article introduction. 

Honestly, I’m not jonesing for a dopamine hit, nor was I yesterday unless I was at a red light, but I have plenty to do and numerous other outlets to keep myself entertained if the work ever runs out.

Social media and our young people 

Social media has provided some amazing things to our society and overall for the adult population I can’t say rather or not is more of a net negative or net positive, but I know that for young children the addiction to the screen is doing some intense damage to their developing brains. The facts are in, this is not good for our young people. 

I wasn’t an iPad kid. Born in 2001 to a mother of 18, I often felt on the cusp of millennial and gen z but I am squarely in the get z age range. I grew up with cartoons and I had a flip phone at the age of 9. I was 12 when I got social media, and every day I thank god that I didn’t have it earlier. I wish I would have waited longer but all things considered I turned out all right. However, this is so rarely the case today. Abigail Shrier covers this in her most recent book “Bad Therapy: Why Kids today aren’t growing up” Shrier talks about a very interesting phenomena facing young people today. We are the generation with the most access to “mental health resources” and yet, we are by far the most mentally ill generation. Why is that? Many reasons, but a huge factor, based on the most recent research, social media. 

Take this article from Yale Medicine or this one from Mayo Clinic , this from the child mind institute

Really any article from a quick google search will tell you about the negative impact social media has on young people. Unlike certain things this is not information you have to search for. Who’s to say the effect on adults is all that much better? 

Half way update

It’s May 12th, about half way through my instagram free journey. I’m pleased to say my urge to doom scroll has dissipated. I no longer get the urge to reach for my phone and scroll when I hit every red light. 

My screen time is down significantly. From 7-9 hours a day to typically somewhere between 4-5. Nine hours a day is too high, as is five hours in my opinion and it’s not taking into consideration my computer time, but there’s no doom scrolling happening on there and it’s all for work. Ideally my screen time would be between 1-2 hours a day, but I use google maps for several hours a day on route for work or running errands. I also listen to podcasts on Spotify and YouTube and sometimes leave the screen playing on accident, both of these contribute to several hours of screen time a day. 

Anyone know a good way to track screen time that doesn’t account for google maps and other time not actually spent on the phone? 

I no longer spend my mornings doom scrolling and am spending more time journaling and reading, which I already do quite a bit of but am excited about incorporating more of. 

I will confess that on 2 occasions I have looked at instagram messages on a web browser or my iPad. I was expecting (hoping) for a message that never came. Thus making the whole thing, not worth it.  

Over all, I’m feeling really good about being pretty much entirely social media free, and am not 100% sure what plans are for the end of this month after this challenge. I love posting photos on instagram and I’ve found that I’m documenting things through photos less than I would previously. This is a side effect that has both pros and cons in my opinion. I love photography and I love documenting moments but I’m on my phone less and in the moment more which I think has benefits, obviously. 

I may start scrapbooking or keeping a photo album so I have some place to document and look back on, or maybe just download instagram periodically to post and then delete it again. There are some instagram accounts that I miss keeping up with. This feels very silly, I’m not missing much I realized I also use instagram to research, restaurants in the area, thrift shops, markets, it seems like instagram has its finger on the pulse of what’s relevant in a way that google doesn’t. And of course, there are the hundreds of recipes I have saved that I swore I was going to make one day. 

I can honestly say that I’m not missing much from my friends or other people I used to follow. I realize I’ve been out of the loop- apparently there’s beef with kendrick Lemar and Drake, I was so out of the loop I heard about this on a Joe rogan podcast. And that’s another thing I miss sometimes, I used to see who was hanging out with Joe Rogan and know who the next podcast guest was, and now I just have to wait until they come out. 

In some ways I worry about losing touch- what are the young people doing and talking about (I’m 23, and even I can’t keep up) what if I become the 23 year old equivalent of a weird home schooled kid (I already don’t have many friends) but at the same time, what’s being in tune with social media compared to being in tune with what’s around me. 

I don’t come home and sit on the couch and scroll anymore. I’ll read or journal, look at my Todoist, or better yet, just get straight to work because there is always another project to do. 

Ultimately why I wanted to give up social media

I have this philosophy in life that leading by example is one of the highest form of authenticity and good. I don’t have kids yet but I examined this first in my younger siblings (aged 15, 8, and 11 at time of publishing) 

Kids are a mirror into our own behavior and I began to see things in my younger siblings that I didn’t like in myself. 

Of course, that’s not to say that it was all bad. They mirrored some good things too. But I began to look at habits and behaviors in my life like this: Is this a good or bad habit, and do I want my future kids to exhibit this behavior or habit? 

If the answer is no, then the next questions is: Why am I still doing this? Could I justify this behavior or habit that I’m exhibiting to my future kids, even though I don’t want them to do it? 

And lastly: What can I do to eliminate this habit and lead by example? 

The greatest example I have of this is drinking. Why am I drinking? Because it’s fun, it makes social outings more enjoyable, and all of my friends are doing it. 

Do I want my kids doing this? No, absolutely not. There are no positive side effects to drinking, and the health impacts are severe. 

Can I justify this to my kids even though it’s something I don’t want them doing? No. Not really. Just because I’m an adult doesn’t make it healthy, worth it, or right to drink, given how I feel about it personally. 

What can I do to change this? I quit drinking. I wasn’t an alcoholic. I didn’t have problems with drinking. But I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by quitting, so I did. 

One by one I went through things like this in my personal life and eliminated (or continue to try) to eliminate habits that I don’t want my kids to have. 

Which leads us here. Do I want my kids to use social media? No! The jury is in, it’s wrecking our kids. They can absolutely live without it and be better for it. Therefore, it’s time for me to start to lead by example. Of course these kids don’t exist yet but my younger siblings look up to me and mirror my behavior. I think eliminating or severely limiting social media is a great way to lead by example. 

Last week 

We’re reaching our last week of no instagram on my phone, although I don’t intend to go back when it’s over. 

At my peak I was able to get my screen time down to an average of 2 hours a day which is pretty incredible in todays day and age, especially considering google maps usage. 

 I would like to continue to limit my screen time as much as possible. I’ve found that when I have my iPad charged, I am susceptible to looking at instagram, I don’t tend to dive very deep into the rabbit hole, but I will check my messages, and check up on those aforementioned accounts I miss and then close the app. 

There’s no longer all this stuff I’m checking up on, and therefore nothing to see. I get bored rather quickly, and while I still find the occasional funny or interesting reel, I don’t receive the same dopamine hit, or crave the next dopamine hit quite the way I did when I was stuck in my addictive cycle. Unfortunately for me, setting an app timer or even getting an external app to limit my screen time doesn’t help me restrict certain apps. I’ll simply bypass the protocols I have set up, and do it anyways. For me, the solution was the go cold turkey until I felt like the addictive cycle had been broken. 

Here are some better habits I’ve replaced with my desire to doom scroll. 

Reading a couple pages of a book when I feel my attention span shrinking from the task at hand. 

Writing a journal entry, I find that one page takes about 3-5 minutes and is a sufficient reset for me mentally. 

Checking my Todoist, and monitoring my progress on important tasks. 

Looking at Pinterest and finding inspiration for current projects or future goals. I’ve been creating Pinterest boards for certain future aspirations and I’ve been enjoying it, but I’m not addicted to it, it doesn’t feed the addictive side of my brain like social media does, and I usually spend 10-15 minutes building a board and then move on to something else. 

One month follow up 

It’s been a month since the end of my 30 days of instagram free challenge and I am here to report that I have not redownloaded the app on my phone. I do continue to check it sometimes and I have come to find that there are some people whose content I enjoy and seek out, but I’ll check on them occasionally and then move on. I no longer feel the need to doom scroll. I still post and keep up with documenting memories for my own sake, but I would still like to start scrapbooking at some point. 

Life is genuinely better since I eliminated my social media addiction, and I now feel qualified and capable to help prevent my future kids from developing the same problem that everyone else in the younger generation has. 

Like I said earlier in this article, the verdict is in. Social media is not good for us, and it’s wreaking havoc on a young generation of kids who have never known life without it. Taking a step back and evaluating the relationship that you have with social media as an individual can be instrumental to see this crisis more clearly, and helping others. As adults, it’s up to us to lead by example and set limitations and expectations for young people. We can do this by consuming content more consciously, as well as limiting our overall consumption of content, and encouraging our friends to do the same. 

A New York Times article came under fire for stating that an unvaccinated five-year-old is at less risk for Covid than a vaccinated 70-year-old.

The article was called “insensitive” and “misleading,” with critics saying it underestimated the risks that children are able to spread and catch the virus.

Now, with more data available than before, the author of the article has been proven right. Research shows an unvaccinated 5-year-old is at less risk for serious covid than a vaccinated 70-year-old.

For the elderly, as well as those with serious health conditions getting vaccinated does not reduce the risk of Covid death or hospitalization to near zero, despite what initial vaccine data may have suggested.

Children, however, are at extremely low risk for catching covid and being hospitalized by it.

“For children without a serious medical condition the danger of severe Covid is so low as to be difficult to quantify”

The New York Times

Despite data that shows how low-risk children are, California continues to push for vaccine mandates for school children. Vaccines have just been approved for emergency use in children aged 5-11.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children