True Patriot Love


Why Holidays Make Everyone Doomscroll


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Happy Holidays! In this episode, we're joined by our friend Sim from Screentown, Ontario, Canada, to talk about how technology has changed the way we experience the holidays and how it affects us.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 well it's an iphone it's a samsung it's a google phone it's a whatever it's smartphones and basically
00:00:12.100 they're an extension of our hands and our arms now well it wasn't that long ago when you went
00:00:16.860 to the holidays you didn't have a phone in your hand now everyone does and everyone wants to
00:00:21.780 check out everything going on aka doom scrolling talk more about it thrilled to be joined by our
00:00:26.840 friend sim from horizon within horizonwithin.ca and that is one thing that's become part of
00:00:32.560 these holiday get-togethers sim there's people all of a sudden you look around and everyone's on their
00:00:36.800 phone looking at different things absolutely i remember like you know before the ad the smartphone
00:00:44.540 yeah um christmas eve get-togethers were kids were out on the out yep either you were having a snowball
00:00:53.880 fight yes with your neighbors or you were playing ice uh road hockey or right you're doing something
00:00:59.160 or the other you weren't inside and then everybody kind of like had your roles and you came back in
00:01:04.540 right before supper ate supper either home alone was coming on or diehard was coming on depending on
00:01:11.020 which tv channel you were like some board games some board games and there was no um
00:01:17.300 people running away from each other yes right and one disadvantage of having this technology come
00:01:26.780 into whether it was the ipads because i think the ipads came much a little bit sooner yeah yeah yeah
00:01:31.880 right because smartphones did come but there was not that much of data so the app it wasn't
00:01:35.820 app friendly um but you know before you kind of understand like why people doing scroll there's got
00:01:43.560 to be an understanding of what happens to our mind and why we go to the phone because holidays are
00:01:50.540 overwhelming and you're gonna like how you know we talked about in one of our previous podcasts about
00:01:55.340 this over realm of hosting or the over realm of um visiting the the brain can only take so much stress
00:02:05.860 and what passive schooling gives you is it gives you a way to disassociate without it asking anything
00:02:15.340 back and it's giving you small bursts of dopamine right like without any consequence to it and now
00:02:23.340 all of a sudden becomes this mindless experience where you don't have to think and then time's passing
00:02:29.320 by but it's just you're you're just burnt out you're right okay so that's your cause and effect
00:02:36.340 what happens is that now this is becoming a more of a resource tool to replenish than it was before
00:02:43.500 so what i try to do especially on christmas day is the only time i respond to my phone is if i'm
00:02:49.440 getting a dm or a text from someone like wishing me a greeting and i respond oh hey thanks happy
00:02:55.120 holidays merry christmas so if it's a family number or a close friend other than that i don't i really
00:03:01.700 really try not to look at the phone whatsoever on christmas day and that's to be honest with you
00:03:06.960 it's getting harder and harder you're like oh yeah what's happening there let's check the weather
00:03:09.820 remember you don't think you get sucked in yeah i like how you you position not because a lot of us
00:03:17.880 depending on where we fit in the generational bracket or really determines what it's giving us
00:03:26.760 back so when we look at it from like an observer's lens and you're like well everybody's doing scrolling
00:03:31.100 or everybody's doing mindless scrolling but it's actually an if you look at it through each generational
00:03:36.260 lens there's actually a nuance that's unique to them so imagine that you know you know you have a
00:03:44.040 griswold family dinner right and now everybody's in the living room and you have gramps at 82 and
00:03:50.800 then you have the young griswold at like i think seven yeah so in modern time if you bring them to
00:03:55.780 2025 you've got everybody right you've got the boomers you've got the xers you've got the millennials 0.85
00:04:00.080 you've got the z's and then you got the alphas right and so you know if we go chronologically and
00:04:06.260 go all the way to the oldest and go to baby boomers well for them it's passive scrolling 1.00
00:04:11.000 right they're the facebook people like you know working at the feeds right the it's not requiring
00:04:19.060 animated stimuli right because it's not changing the reels don't change
00:04:23.160 and they're not into reels they're more into like oh look you know somebody posted merry christmas and
00:04:29.040 then they're like my car made a goose yeah comment comment comment right like so so for them it's more
00:04:35.340 of just passive restaurant okay interesting right and but everybody's replenishing right like
00:04:40.880 everybody's just tuned out and they're trying to get energy come to the gen generation exodus this
00:04:47.860 generation is the one that's carrying the weight because they're hosting they're carrying they're
00:04:53.740 running the stuff and all of that for them it's a way to just i need a minute to because i just need a
00:05:03.720 minute because everybody may have shifted to the living room and they're all settling in the xers 0.79
00:05:08.320 either putting stuff away or they're like prepping the dessert or they're putting the but there's still
00:05:13.760 a command that they have to run or remember or like do so for them not a facade and this becomes
00:05:20.720 two minutes of reprieve right because there's no escape right and they need to reset because it's
00:05:26.740 the switch is still on now you come to the generation y right for them it's on a like okay 1.00
00:05:35.660 uh what is going on just a lot of inputs so for them it gives them a sense of control it gives them
00:05:42.020 a place where they don't have to engage they can politely dissociate right and the it becomes a shield
00:05:50.440 it becomes a shield right because now all of a sudden we're looking at a physical interruption
00:05:57.200 right if somebody's got their headphones on you're not going to interrupt them right now you go one
00:06:04.120 generation over to gen z so gen z it's like so how's school or so you know gotta go from here right like
00:06:13.480 the typical like dating anyone like because they are in not that 20s bracket right and or you know
00:06:19.500 so if you decided where you're going to major right like so for them it becomes the sense of
00:06:23.700 like okay how do i not right because remember we've all had dinner you've already experienced
00:06:31.060 overall so where are you going for recovery you're going to your phone but each generation now
00:06:40.180 is going for very different reasons but from an observer's lens look at that what happened to the
00:06:46.880 love of family christmas and like sitting by the cracking fire and turning on the radio boomers
00:06:51.440 yeah right right yeah xers all right um you know because you probably got either a hockey stick 0.86
00:06:57.140 yeah skates yeah mittens something that you can put on and go outside and and you've been kicked out
00:07:05.300 yeah right because the street lights are on you're outside or somebody on the street has made a rink
00:07:11.660 in their backyard and every all the kids are there well the first big generations didn't have to worry
00:07:18.360 about it right the gen rise they were like the guys in the middle because they still had the nostalgia
00:07:23.920 because technology hadn't taken over it was just getting introduced and they were at the tail end of
00:07:28.160 it they were at the start of it oh but the tail end of the nostalgia morphing into the technology
00:07:33.340 right the xers were more on the tail end of it because even though the internet came on it was
00:07:39.040 still dial up right right yeah or yeah the the web pages were very like my spacey kind of thing yeah
00:07:45.000 it's the xers where it became much greater in demand so now that need to go on the content change
00:07:52.920 the style of delivery change so most of y still had that right because
00:07:58.040 even though it was on cable my home alone aired on the air on ctv or on global right so it was still
00:08:07.320 there right the alphas for them it's it's it's that's what they've grown up on right they are the
00:08:16.040 ipad generation the ipad they are the genuine ipad generation so for them that's all they know right
00:08:21.580 so for them it's it's a digital pacifier right because and it's not a fault of theirs right it's
00:08:27.320 not like oh you know no it's you can only take in what you have in your environment and if that is 0.99
00:08:35.220 your digital pacifier for us it was the idiot box on a saturday morning on you same thing this is just 0.93
00:08:43.260 more intimate it's more imaging and the span is a lot shorter because our cartoons many tunes ran for 0.99
00:08:49.840 three to five minutes right these run for 15 to 30 seconds always see the need to feed is more
00:08:57.340 so one of the simplest ways to understand dune scroll and energy replenishment replenishment and
00:09:07.420 rather than worrying about it and and critiquing yourself or burdening yourself the way i suggest
00:09:13.660 for you to look at it and cdt is wonderful because cognitive behavioral therapy what it is about is
00:09:20.140 it looks at how you process information cognitively right and it's about reframing and reframing is
00:09:26.860 basically looking at it in a different way there's no science to it it's just genuinely looking at a
00:09:32.120 different way so a new or a different way to look at this is how you would have your macros for
00:09:38.700 nutrients right your carbs your free proteins and your fats look at your way of how you get energy in
00:09:47.580 so verbs are your like cards right they're quick they're easy but they burn you out faster right
00:09:56.380 so social media is a card okay i now a full disclosure or even this daughter has a mini dachshund and now 0.95
00:10:06.020 we've been sharing these stupid ai videos of the oxen's driving trucks and playing sports and cooking 0.94
00:10:13.180 stuff and i find them hilarious is that a carb it is because just like in carbs you have simple carbs 0.96
00:10:19.440 and you have complex carbs this is really simple right so it's very easy not to understand because
00:10:24.500 you're not measuring um content you're measuring the energy it gives your dopamine rush right because
00:10:32.560 it doesn't make me laugh and smile but it's short-lived yeah right so you eat a bag of chips
00:10:37.000 yeah you're gonna get a spike or you eat a candy bar like you know your what do they call it the
00:10:40.560 afternoon crash yes right yeah yeah or the two o'clock crash that's officially called yeah and then
00:10:46.920 there's a whole thing like oh you can grab a protein bar or you can grab a kitkat bar right yeah and the
00:10:51.800 argument now is simple carb kitkat bar you get the energy but in 45 minutes later you're like oh right
00:10:57.720 versus a protein bar right it's still in or sorry a fruit nut bar yeah right yeah whatever granola
00:11:05.080 whatever the point is this is that complex bars will give you a spike it'll last a little bit longer
00:11:10.360 but it's not going to sustain you and you're going to drop right and just like how when you're eating a
00:11:15.400 meal you're going to balance it out you know you're not going to be a carb heavy plate because you know if
00:11:19.880 you're you may love carbs often videos are it well guess what if your plate is only full of mashed
00:11:25.960 potatoes and very little protein who's not going to have energy same thing right if you if you have
00:11:32.200 a lot of simple carbs where your dopamine boosts are always going to be narrow that's where doom scrolling
00:11:39.800 is feeding itself right because you're only feeding on simple carbs you're not passing judgment the the
00:11:45.320 whole objective when you're doing cognitive reframing is you're not taking your action you're
00:11:50.760 observing your action and by looking at it from such a filter what it's giving you it's giving you a way
00:11:58.120 to then look at it and go okay i understand that okay now moving to proteins well what are proteins
00:12:03.960 proteins are something that will sustain you a bit longer right i equate proteins to something that requires
00:12:12.280 some kind of movement it could be a hobby of do you like to color it could be i like word searches it
00:12:20.360 could be a like knitting it could be anything you like it could be i'm going for a look right it could
00:12:26.680 be i'm going to go do the dishes right it's an activity as long as you enjoy it and it's not a chore
00:12:32.200 it serves that a protein fats right these are more where you need longer time to not only um digest
00:12:42.280 but the effects of it take longer right like if you need half an avocado it'll give you sustained
00:12:48.200 energy but you can give it to you 30 minutes later right as opposed to that kit kit bar which gave it
00:12:53.480 you energy but it is good for you the avocado absolutely but what i'm saying is because you're
00:12:59.000 looking to replenish your energy right right because remember we're sitting in a post griswold christmas
00:13:05.480 dinner uh watch national lampoons christmas vacation okay right it's not all christmas movie
00:13:12.840 um so you've already depleted yourself and remember from your generational lens each one has it so like
00:13:19.160 for a generation xer right they may need a dachshund video you know why because they've got to put the
00:13:26.600 coffee out and the pies really up yeah and they're burnt out okay fine all right i got my energy boom
00:13:33.800 now everybody's done dessert we're all chilling now you have a choice do i go for a complex carb
00:13:39.480 because i still need to clear up the plates and go in there and i add a little bit of protein so maybe
00:13:44.520 i'll do an activity you know what guys i'm gonna go for a 10 minute walk because we have a dog so that's
00:13:50.680 my excuse to take the dog for a while so there's your protein right there oh oh okay there's your protein
00:13:55.480 right there right because you did an activity okay right it's not what i'm saying is it you're you're
00:14:01.800 looking at it through how you would eat a meal so if you know you still need energy now you're
00:14:07.160 replenishing accordingly right so so you could be like okay you know what i don't want to i don't
00:14:12.600 want to do some video i want something a little bit more okay you know what watch a uh true paternal
00:14:18.200 podcast that's a complex carb why because it's engaging the mind it's not you can listen
00:14:25.480 right and more preferably my podcast well yes then that is the perfect complex
00:14:34.200 and i for me i know like especially after the big heavy holiday meal taking the dog around the block
00:14:39.880 the fresh air too just being outside i find that very very invigorating but when you come back you
00:14:45.240 have energy oh yeah very much that's protein yeah it's like eating it's eating meat right because if
00:14:49.960 you eat meat you don't get you don't crash fast because right you're it's it's just like that it's
00:14:54.600 what i'm saying is you're matching it to that and by making sure that it's an activity the keyword is
00:15:01.720 activity and it's based on your abilities right if doing the word search is an activity for you
00:15:10.520 it's an activity because you're engaging your mind not through the digital lens if reading a book
00:15:18.520 that's an activity listening to something on the radio listening to music that you enjoy
00:15:24.920 they are all activities because you're engaging your mind to get energy from a different source
00:15:30.200 so would this be considered a protein something my partner started a few years ago always um we take
00:15:36.120 a a little bit time over the holidays and we do we call it crafty corner we do like a group family
00:15:41.640 craft of something just so we're not on the phone and not doing anything with electronics so would that
00:15:46.760 be a protein because we're doing a craft you're actually doing two things simultaneously you're doing
00:15:50.840 the protein fat combination oh because you've created a communal activity so that's the self-care
00:15:57.320 part because now you're creating this family experience right okay that's a kind of like a
00:16:01.400 fact because right and at the same time because it's an activity that's your protein another good
00:16:08.280 one is um playing an i spy movie yes game yes and say you're watching um die hard right of course
00:16:17.560 coincidental is it a christmas you know which means it has to be played every christmas
00:16:21.720 right to me it does so you can have this um sheet with 10 items that you got to find on it oh great
00:16:30.040 and now you've made it an activity and you're actively watching you're watching but you're
00:16:35.080 collectively watching okay you've changed the thing versus doom scrolling soul and grandpa doom
00:16:42.280 scrolling scroll and grandma doom smart because generationally remember we're going to replenish but
00:16:47.640 for different reasons and it has different value just like that simple carb metabolizes differently
00:16:55.320 for a six-year-old versus a 35 year old versus a 45 year old versus an 80 year old versus an athlete
00:17:03.240 now we can get into the variations right that's where it becomes a personal conversation the idea of
00:17:08.840 this is that it prevents you from becoming a soft critic and putting yourself in a situation is i need better
00:17:16.440 resources well this is a way for you to have better resources because then you can take a step back
00:17:20.760 and go okay i need energy these things give me energy i've put it on my website as well there's an
00:17:26.360 article and it breaks it down a bit okay uh same thing with i have an activity guide that you can
00:17:31.400 download and on it there's about nine movies you can pick from for the i spy movie i've got it's a
00:17:36.440 great concept there's ghostbusters on there there's toy story oh right elf shrek uh die family movies
00:17:43.640 love actually oh love actually is a great movie it's a classic movie yeah you know jerry mcguire's
00:17:49.240 on the okay so because the idea is then you know if you want to have somebody an activity they want
00:17:55.720 to bring everybody together you want to involve somebody because that's the whole point of coming
00:17:58.840 away from this but you're giving them something to build on right something to congregate around you
00:18:06.520 could have somebody that doesn't want to there's i have three to five different word searches games like
00:18:11.720 from easy all the way to difficult i have five sheets of drawing um color paper or coloring um
00:18:18.520 images right there's a little bit something for everybody and then there's a section on hot takes
00:18:24.200 where if you just if you're like one of those families that loves debates right um a good one
00:18:30.360 that's on there is um who would you rather have as a boss the grinch or the scrooge oh who's a better 0.95
00:18:38.040 sidekick plus light year or the donkey the donkey right right right that goes without saying right
00:18:45.080 i mean what's it far and beyond like i don't what is this up and away or whatever to infinity and beyond
00:18:53.400 so i wanted to tie into a previous podcast we did sam because not everyone is going to understand that
00:18:59.240 it's okay to take a few minutes to be on your phone someone's going to get through
00:19:04.840 is this where they go back to it is what it is and not get stressed that some people are on their
00:19:10.520 phone after the dinner can you walk me through this a bit like someone's doing something after the
00:19:16.440 dinner they're not on their phone and they're getting a little rest that everyone's on their phone
00:19:21.160 after the meal so instead of letting the stress get to them just it is what it is twofold to their
00:19:28.600 answer first i feel that it is you not you you but you you yeah right that is the the one that is
00:19:39.880 kind of orchestrating and you're wanting to create this family experience so having that frustration
00:19:46.280 yes use the santa technique and what it is is you know for the listeners here it's santa stands for s
00:19:53.880 you see the environment right so in this scenario you're like okay we just had a good dinner everybody's
00:19:59.560 kind of hanging out why are you on the phone okay you want to ask what is it i'm feeling so you know
00:20:05.720 feelings of it'd be like annoyance or frustration name them i mean sorry um explore them right and then
00:20:13.400 name your reaction to those feelings so with this one you'd be like getting angry yeah or you know
00:20:21.240 frustrated i'm gonna lose it right yeah so now you've named your reaction because you need to name
00:20:27.480 the reaction not the feeling because by asking what you're feeling you've technically named it okay
00:20:32.840 now that you've named your reaction now you can take a breath and go okay it is what it is
00:20:38.280 now that that doesn't mean you're going to let it be because you're starting to resolve it now you take
00:20:45.080 an act which is the last part of santa with connection so now you're saying when the going
00:20:49.720 gets tough the tough get going okay what does that mean what that means is that having everyone together
00:20:55.720 is important that's the tough part great growing means how do i find a resolution that needs both so
00:21:03.080 while you're seeing you're also seeing the age bracket of that so if it's somebody that's a boomer
00:21:09.400 right then make sure that you're not watching diehard because there's no connection right well for them
00:21:16.200 they're like i'm not watching in an hour it doesn't connect to me well guess what you go okay i don't
00:21:22.440 want you on the phone i want you more protein right but you can't go for a walk you can't right you know what
00:21:29.560 what about a word search so you find because there's five different ones and you go hey would
00:21:36.440 you mind like and they're all christmas works right or here's a couple of crayons and the
00:21:43.480 the art you can give it to a five-year-old or you can be 80 years old it's christmas art you know it's
00:21:51.160 tree ornament there's no age to christmas art so you find them there right or you then could be like you
00:21:57.960 know what i don't also need to watch the movie i'll spend time here so there's a solution to
00:22:01.800 everything if it's generation y or generation z there's a better negotiation right right right
00:22:10.440 i think that's a fair ask because now you're not imposing your beliefs or your views because that's
00:22:16.120 not what it's about and you're saying hey look you know explain to them carb protein fats they'll
00:22:22.600 understand it because everybody understands it's very simple right you're not becoming technical and
00:22:27.080 you're saying hey look i understand that you're looking to replenish your energy right why don't
00:22:33.000 you try this for 45 minutes why don't you try this for the first 10 minutes of the movie why don't you
00:22:36.760 try this right and if you're not enjoying it we'll have a conversation if you still still feel you need
00:22:43.960 some private time now we can put a time limit on it but what you've done is you've not created friction
00:22:51.000 bingo that's what i was thinking because by doing that by the negotiation empowering the younger person
00:22:57.080 you're respecting them i would think they would appreciate that but you also understand where
00:23:01.560 they're coming from right because now if it's a gen z they're coming from a sense of control
00:23:07.800 right well you could be like okay uh oh they don't want to be bombarded with 80 questions that's why
00:23:13.800 they're avoiding you're matching it because now you're you're able to instead of interrogating them
00:23:19.000 you're you're able to have awareness and go okay that's what it is because you might be the relative
00:23:25.480 they haven't seen them all year so now you're filled with questions how about this how about
00:23:29.720 that and i like easy whoa stop and it still happened to us yeah right so not like we didn't experience it
00:23:36.600 no absolutely there's no uh warming i i think it's just it it is what it is it is what it is on all sides
00:23:46.680 i'm not saying you know we have to tolerate it it is what it is doesn't mean that you have to tolerate
00:23:52.520 discomfort it is what it is is saying look this is my reality what can i do to work with it to get
00:24:03.400 what i need now i'm not doing scrolling i'm making sure you understand about the christmas activity pack
00:24:09.080 on his website horizonwithin.ca so you are ready for the holidays yeah absolutely and it's a uh it's
00:24:16.520 an easy download you just go on in and and it'll just take you right to the page and you can take
00:24:20.600 whichever activity you like and and that's the beauty thing about it is maybe it's just one or
00:24:24.920 two things you utilize but that could be the difference between having a frustrating holiday
00:24:29.720 experience and a more enjoyable holiday experience and that's what it's about an enjoyable holiday
00:24:34.920 experience hey sim i'm jim thanks for watching thank you