In the last year, I have done something I feel others should do as well. Of course, this is all based on the amount of time one actually spends doing this. What is it? Pulling the plug on social media, mainstream media, and even any channel that had marketing/advertisement. Now, this is not for everyone, as there are small amounts of individuals who control their intake and see it for what it is. That leaves the other 95% of the world.
How I started my journey towards better days...
Finding myself depressed, anxious, and consistently miserable, I always found myself in my primary care physician’s office looking for a “cure all”. This was a constant trip with many fees. Unbeknownst to me, I was just throwing pharmaceuticals at symptoms, which is helpful for just that. Symptoms. This is just the tip of the iceberg in resolving anxiety and depression. Medication can help you in some ways, but they only do so much. Over the years, I found myself continually increasing dosage amounts, switching to more powerful pharmaceuticals, and coming back to where I started with my mental health.
After watching a few lectures, reading countless books, and just doing it. I slowly weaned off most of my meds and made a huge decision. Just a smidge over a year ago, I went “dark” on social media for about five months. It was huge decision, but one based off knowing deep down it was dictating my mental health. Definitely a hard decision at first. Yet, it was the most liberating thing I had done in years. Think about it for a moment. When you get on social media, what do you see?
The noise.
Friends, acquaintances, celebrities, influencers, and people you do not even know living these “spectacularly good lives” [or so you think]. This includes their homes, vehicles, clothing, gadgets, love lives, travel, beauty and more. You know what I am talking about! 
You are inundated and targeted with advertisements and marketing that paint pictures of a life you should have and how to get it. All through words, pictures, videos. Everything from how you feel and look to where you live and what you should think. They are owning your thoughts.
News media outlets creating narratives against opposite views of a spectrum. In the Unites States, you have loads of heavily biased liberal media outlets, conservative outlets, and maybe a few who have no bias. Which, the few unbiased media outlets get very little traffic as it is not triggering emotion from you! These biases are dictating your emotions and how you feel about others.
Again, this is a brief synopsis. If you possess some level of cognitive reasoning in your mind, you can open yourself up and see how these things effect you. You can see that all this is noise.
It is all about stirring emotions, triggering endorphins, and molding you. It works on majority of the population.
This is where you either have an “Oh shit!” moment or think I am laying down psychobabble.
Anyone who reads this was born into this modern realm of influence and now, technology. How we use it is the key. Unfortunately, companies started pushing this many years ago. Through print, people standing on street corners, and even through getting their products into the hands of those who others looked up to. Now with technology, this is has gone bonkers and viral.
We can even go back to the oldest piece of literature still in circulation. The Holy Bible. If you are a devout Christian, this may be where I lose you! The Holy Bible is a book, a good book, but only a book. Yet, you have to look at how it was compiled and brought forth, then you realize that it was created to set a standard for others to follow. Most common sense comes naturally if you possess moral compass, but even back in when manuscripts were being written by many, it was that moral compass was becoming more and more diluted and obscure, the Holy Bible became a thought as a solution.
Problem is that our surroundings are eliminating basic cognitive reasoning and eroding moral compass. It is not an issue a book compiled of works can solve. It serves as a good guide for the most part, though, it loses me when sexist laws and guidelines are laid down. Let us not get into tithing, that is something I just cannot get past. Now, the history of the Holy Bible is much more than what I just stated, I am just giving a VERY brief history. To answer your question at this point, no, I am not agnostic or an atheist. I am very spiritual with my emotions…most of the time. Yet, there are no books about what I believe, as humans have no clear grasp of this concept, including myself, and no one should try to interpret what they do not know as fact.
See where I took that? No apologies from me, but again, the Holy Bible was a book written by humans with the intentions of influencing people. Period. If this negatively triggers you, then please re-read and even read on. Again, not denouncing your faith, just embracing a book in which spirituality goes far beyond a book.
Do we need to be influenced?
Yes, we do. Though not in the way it has been perverted into and what is currently in abundance. Influence for millennia has become for power, control, material, money and more. Our influence should be more in line with caring, developing, and love.
We were created to coexist and work as a tribe. Just as lions operate harmoniously as a pride, and other creatures and their natural habitats. Majority of life on Earth exists in “groups”. Those elements that do not exist in groups, look at them closely. They are basically scavengers. Any living organism that flourishes, typically is one that exists amongst others. In harmony. From trees to birds, dogs to flowers, and us. Thought, we fight this natural biological need.
We were not created to seek fame, power, or fortune. Which is literally what all the noise surrounding you implies you should have.
My days got better and my mind healthier when I realized, all this noise is nonsense.
Not letting what you see and hear dictate how you feel, and act is the first step.
Our biggest question is our existence. Yet, our biggest question should always be, how can you help your fellow human, creatures, and planet. Understanding the thirst and hunger for our meaning is important, our need for love is more important.
I know, a big task. It took us long time to get where we are at, and it will take a long time to get where we are going. You are in control of how you react and what you put out into the world. It seems pointless, but every time you plant a caring word, thought, or action, you are planting something bigger than you imagine. Doing this every day and not letting the noise overcome you, is the first step in having a better day and cleansing your mind of all the negativity. It takes work. It takes time. You have that control.
Depression and anxiety have many different causes. Most of this is the fact we are missing something. Something biological. Not a chemical imbalance, a biological need we are not getting.
More to come…
dK