9 April 2026
Addictions
Back here 6 years later. This post was intended to be my diary, but the idea of writing daily thoughts here disappeared in the uncharted and interruptive times of COVID. I continued my journaling, very periodically, in my Diary (under “IMeMyself” in the Continuum).
I saw this post by chance this morning while reflecting on a particular problem I am having. The only way to purge is to acknowledge it by writing about the whole journey of my addictions. I propose mentioning them here only, writing more fully about them as recall refreshes.
I now confess that I am addicted to social media. One measure of that is that I have posted nearly 6000 posts, 90% of them over the last 18 months. When not actually writing, I scroll aimlessly. Even as it becomes increasingly difficult physically to read books, newspapers, and magazines, the truth is that I do not have the motivation to do so. The screen is much easier to read on the phone, tablet, or PC. So, hours go by without productive occupation.
Well, I have now undertaken to cure myself by nothing more than just self-discipline. It is in this context that the thought occurred to me that I had succeeded in doing this before, and that it had been so easy: LSD and other hallucinates in the late 1960s; heroin in the late 1970s; (popularly acceptable) weed during postings in West Asia; chain smoking until 1994; sex addiction (cured by age!), and the singular ability to turn on and off from consuming alcohol as I will it, whenever I will it (as now for two months).
I will now deal with Social Media addiction.
21 April 2026
Dealing with Social Media Addiction
I am now there. I have identified my interdependencies with social media. Now, I must put into practice:
Seeking Validation: In my current circumstances, any validation of my work is important. At its most basic level, the number of “likes” or substantive “replies” serves that end. This ego-driven desire explains much of the addiction. But right now, at this stage of life, I need no validation from anyone. I am a free visa-less bird, flying hither and thither at my own volition. I need only my calm satisfaction emerging from what I am doing or have done.
My Legacy not Served: The objective of harvesting only tweets to which I have added value in Me@Social on >>>DownloadingMyMind.com is to leave behind a legacy of what I thought of a specific issue. Taken together with other writings, these constitute my AntiMemoir. That is all very well, but I am spending too much time on absurd trolls, which is emotionally taxing. It all disappears into the ether; it does not serve my overall goal. So why do it?
Abandoning a Motivation: Why indeed? Well, throughout my adult working life, mentoring, publicly and privately, has been a driving motivator. My mentoring has had at least some effect on 23 men and women, of various ethnicities and faiths, who are now functioning well and ably in their lives. I realise that engaging with the ignorant and the idiotic on social media is often motivated by my desire to educate and put the trolls and others X subscribers on the ‘right path’. It takes too much time. I cannot sustain it. This motivation must be surrendered.
Thin skin: Despite having undertaken various mental strategies over the years to develop a thick skin, I now accept total failure. In recent months, with social media, I realise that I am incurring an emotional toll. Negative chatter affects my usual calm state of mind. I do not have to subject myself to such disruptions.
X, Platform for Negativity: The public discourse on the X platform is dominated by negative aspects of humanity – crass comments and counter-comments on political, social, and economic happenings around the globe. In fact, that reflects the very nature of the platform.
At a personal level, I now realise that making X the first port of call at the start of the day, ostensibly to catch up on the latest, sets it off with an irritation-laden mindset; it colours my view of the world negatively. This contrasts with the more creative, calmer reflections and images on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
That said, the sheer activism of X subscribers around the world means that the latest news comes to light far ahead of visual media. Also, inevitably, because of the different views on various developments, expressed sanely or wildly, one gets alerted to the nuances of any developments on issues of interest to me.
My Conclusions: One, access social media late in the day. Two, no more than 1-2 hours on it per day. Three, interaction must be limited to writing what I know will be harvested for Me@Social. Four, no engagement with replies, positive or negative.
