It’s funny and a little disturbing how easy it is to scan back and forth the pages of social media. From your cell phone to opening pages on your computer repeatedly it’s pretty evident a lot of time is lost with the practice. I would be willing to admit that I may very well check my social media a couple of times while I write this passage. So what is the attraction?

I’ve got five pages open right now including this journal. When I look at the headlines I wait to see (1) pop up to indicate I just received something. When it is my email it is usually something I care less about. My bonuses are emails from friends and family. So I let my eyes float right to all of my open pages, and Facebook is naturally there, one of my more probable check ins. The thing about Facebook is that the headings change every time you check in or refresh so there is plenty to lose yourself with. The things I look for are the likes, much like the ones I will wait for on this essay when I post it. I also have a major newspaper open waiting for updates and headlines. That feeds my incessant addiction to the news.

I fortunately have music playing on my stereo at the moment. If not I would have the news on and I would surf back and forth from all four networks. I remember 2016 when I was so disgusted I stopped watching the news after the 2017 inauguration. I felt good about that, even rarely watching local news. I found after years I really hadn’t missed anything. That’s where my music comes in. I’ve cued up a station that will probably play the rest of the afternoon while I’m writing. I started watching the news again when Kamala Harris began her run for office, and I’ve been stuck watching what I believe to be inane stories ever since. (Some of you will disagree with the content I favor and I do respect your choice. It’s your life.) Back in 2015 I was hooked on Don Lemon and his panel of guests on MSNBC. Once he started to water down his words I lost interest. That was around the time of the election. That’s not very ironic.

So I have five pages and my phone to look at when I summarize this story. Apple has now made it possible to open my phone on my laptop so I don’t even need that in my hands until I leave the house and bring it with me. My hope is by examining the truths of this habit I might find more awareness and just leave music in my background. A little Chopin and George Winston can go a long way. Happy surfing. Oh, gotta go, (1) just popped up.