Less doomscrolling, more bloomscrolling
The internet today can hurt your mind, if you let it.
Brain rot. Bed rot. Doomscroll. Slop.
The words we use say it all. What was once a place of curiosity and discovery is now a soulless, mindless bog.
Which is why I’m trying something different.
I call it bloomscrolling. It’s a more intentional way to interact with the internet. Bloomscrolling is about seeking out positivity and beauty and originality, rather than succumbing to slop.
Consider it a positive reinforcement approach to scrolling online.
Instead of feeding on outrage, I deliberately seek out hope, beauty and creativity.
I actively follow sources of authentic art, design, nature, photography, philosophy and human progress, rather than letting algorithms serve me trash and negativity
Do my best to disengage with the trash by noticing when certain content shifts my mood, and unfollowing or scrolling past it (all cues to the algorithm)
It’s a subtle shift in how I behave online, which began with recognizing the internet was shaping my mental state. Instead of passively consuming, I started actively seek out what I want to see and attempting to bend my feed toward inspiration over despair. I think of it as a practice for my attention, where I consciously plant what “blooms” in my mind.
Algorithms have dulled our senses. We’ve become accustomed to hot takes, high stakes and half-baked content. We no longer research. We react.
Bloom Scrolling is my attempt to reset my brain.
The internet can still be a beautiful place. We just have to search harder to find the beauty. The more we do, the more we reward those who create it.
To that end, here are some good sources to follow who will fill your feed with more beauty & positivity:
⚘ Instead of Doomscrolling: A substack dedicated to exactly what bloomscrolling is all about: more thoughtful consumption online. Mapu (Maria Paula) scours the internet for things she finds worth paying attention to. It’s a treasure trove of interesting books, videos, articles, podcasts and other media, with fresh updates pretty often. Btw, we interviewed Maria Paula about everything she’s personally interested in here.
⚘ George Saunders: While it’s geared more toward readers and writers, George Saunder’s substack is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone. It’s an extension of his book, “A Swim in the Pond in the Rain” (highly recommend), which examines different Russian short stories and how they work, almost like you’re in loosely structured writing class together. Saunders is generous, kind and full of good thoughts on how to write and live. If the idea of reading Russian literature seems boring or intimidating to you, Saunders will quickly change your mind.
⚘ Rose Florence: Another generous Substacker constantly sharing visual inspiration, much of it beautiful art from living artists I wouldn’t otherwise know.
⚘ DESK: Full disclosure, this blog is run by one of the co-founders of mymind.com, our company. But it covers a wide range of topics from design to philosophy to career advice. You can count on Tobias for raw honesty, a sense of optimism and a love of beauty that always feels refreshing in your inbox.
⚘ Paolo Abate: Just gorgeous photography (most of it from Italy) that somehow stands out even in an Instagram feed full of photography. It’s a much-needed dose of sunshine and easy-living for me, especially right now in the doldrums of winter.
⚘ Nitch: Inspiring quotes from great thinkers and doers. I’m constantly saving these posts and coming back to them for comfort and motivation.
⚘ The Pump Club: Yes, this is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s newsletter. Yes, a good amount of it is about becoming a healthier & fitter person. But even the exercise stuff gets surprisingly deep. I turned my mom on to this newsletter and she’s often telling me to “go read today’s Arnold” about some specific thing I’m going through, and it often has some useful and original insights for me. (My nearly 70-yo mom and her best friend also do the workouts he recommends, so that part’s accessible too.)
⚘ The mymind Sunday newsletter: Shameless self-promo! Every Sunday we curate the most lovely, thought-provoking, creatively inspiring things we’ve seen/read/watched that week in a newsletter. If you sign up for a free mymind account you automatically get it. Take it or leave it (but we get replies every week thanking us for these emails, so I don’t think you’ll regret taking it)
Any fresh recommendations (substacks, Instagram accounts, YouTubers, etc) for me? Please comment, I need it!!