Moving into a More Wholesome State
I read once that anthropologists believe that the ideal human community size is approximately 160 people. That sounds ideal to me. Less drama, everyone has an investment in each other’s well being and the community needs to work together to both survive and thrive.
But we live in a community of eight billion, that’s 8,000,000,000, significantly more than the modest 160 recommended (and that’s not including plant and animal communities). I wonder at the capacity of our brains to hold the barrage of information and interactions we have daily. It’s neither healthy nor something we can manage well - and we are not managing it well. The statistics for mental health conditions: depression, anxiety, and others are reaching unhealthy levels, these hint at an overall unwellness in our mental and emotional health development.
“This is not about forgetting about the greater world (and soon to be off-world) humans, animals, plants, and other living beings - far from it. ”
While I am not a physician or an expert in psychology, I have suffered from depression for the entirety of my adult life and have symptoms of both autism and ADHD. But I wonder if my brain was not exposed on a daily basis to this huge influx of information and stimulation, whether those symptoms may in fact alleviate or disappear entirely.
A few months ago, I put a boundary around my social media use. I deleted the apps from my phone and made deliberate times to interact in that world. See my post here. I don’t own a television and the visual and auditory content I consume is carefully curated to be in areas of my interest: story, history, and wholesome news and content. The moment something appears that causes me any anxiety, I remove it. Already, I can see an improvement in my mental health and particularly in my dreams and creative inspiration.
Secondly, I am conscientious about which physical communities I involve myself in. I keep mostly to myself and remove myself from communities with any toxicity, self-righteousness, or conflict. I hear the voice of society in my head saying: “but you need to learn to interact with all types of people.” And, while in theory that sounds fair, in reality, why should I expose myself to toxic, violent, and egocentric communities at the expense of my inner peace and mental wellbeing? When you’re on a plane, you look after yourself first before helping others and I see no difference when we are in community - particularly a community size that no human brain has capacity to hold.
“…but you’re putting your head in the sand, isn’t it important to know about current events?” To this, I reply, NO.
We don’t need to know about the latest awful thing happening somewhere on the other side of the world, especially if that thing causes us to dive into a depression so deep that some have taken their lives. If we refer to the Circle of Control as illustrated above, we have zero control over things that happen elsewhere. And that feels defeating, however, what is more empowering, is that we DO have influence and control in our bodies and communities - that is, we can make a change and influence the world, not from the top down, but from the ground up.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Someone once said something like: “The revolution will not come with violence, but with a quiet persistence, for example in growing and providing food for yourself and your community.” This is not to say we are passive recipients of the violence and conflict in the world, but it IS to say that when we tend our hearts, gardens, and communities, that is when we change the world.
This is not about forgetting about the greater world (and soon to be off-world) humans, animals, plants, and other living beings - far from it. It’s about cultivating our inner peace by turning off unnecessary noise so that we can create the community and world that we want to see. This happens in three steps:
Turning off the noise that keeps us trapped in a cycle of catastrophe porn - television, radio, newspapers, social media, podcasts, websites and remove yourself from social groups that feed off this porn.
Reclaim your energy, attention, and inner peace through meditation, deep rest, remembering your passions, and prioritising your mental and emotional well-being for the long term.
Build (or join) the community you want to see, live in, and contribute to. Be engaged in where you live and the groups you want to be involved in. If it’s not a community that lights you up and you don’t have the capacity to help shift it, move. You’re not a tree.
Humanity is nothing more than millions of small community groups living alongside each other, but what’s changed is the amount we interact with all these groups because of mass media. It’s not necessary to know and be connected to all these communities at once. Remember, 160 people is the ideal community size, and putting your oxygen mask on first is not selfish, but instead completely necessary for both you and others to survive and thrive.
~ Alyssa
*This post is written from my experience of moving away from mass consumption of content. You do what’s right for you.
