Consume Less, Notice More

For the last five weeks, I was home away from home. And as per usual during that summer break, I didn't post or spend much time on social media, as I was more interested in being present, reading books, attending to family and friends, and playing some games, also on my phone :).

But something different happened this time around. Something shifted. I started to notice that my desire to even consume the content I usually enjoy also lessened.

I started reflecting on what I am seeing and reading, and on the information being fed to me, and realized it is just a constant distraction from what I was actually doing and experiencing.

While there are some interesting things and informative content, I still wondered whether it is actually necessary and whether it adds anything to my life.

This curiosity and inquiry might also relate to what I was reading and writing about. All of a sudden, well maybe it wasn't all of a sudden. Maybe it was a gradual, logical evolution of where I was heading regarding technology and the human experience. I've been reading Radical Evolution by Joel Garreau and The Health Forecast by Sanitas, a Swiss Healthcare Provider, books that focus on the human and technological evolution. They showcase, in different ways, how we humans are hungry for information and knowledge, how we are never satisfied with what we have, and how we believe there is something we haven't reached yet that will bring us the ultimate experience of success and achievement. And what if we never get there?

It matters what we consume because it determines our individual course in life.

That's where consuming less will step in. By acknowledging and accepting that everything we have is enough, the craving stops. And consumption doesn't limit itself to information through social media, for example. It continues through news, food, clothing, and materialistic things. A sense of not having enough.

Returning from this trip, it hit me. Nothing new, but in a more significant way, I don't need to consume as much food, information, clothes, relationships, you name it, to be fulfilled and happy. All it takes is a sense of enoughness. A sense of feeling complete right now in this moment. Everything else will spoil the taste in my mouth and my mind. It's definitely a practice; I keep falling back into old habits. And my hope is that writing my next book on exactly this topic will help me make a breakthrough in how much I lean on technology when I get bored and just want to do nothing that requires energy.

My motto remains: the less I consume, the more I will notice what makes me feel whole, energized, and healthy in all ways, most importantly, to stay present with life in real time.

What is something you noticed during this Summer that completes you and your actions and keeps your feet on the ground?

Our human existence depends on it. 💕 #community #breathe #bepresent #compassion #love