How to Get Out of the Doom Scroll

How often do you doom scroll on Insta or TikTok or YouTube - or even your email??

How often do you buy courses, don't finish them, and put yourself into debt or disrupt your debt-payoff plan to do it?

How many podcasts, audiobooks, or TV shows are you consuming until you feel "stuffed" with other people's stories and info?

If you answered "yes" to any of these or thought of similar experiences, you might be caught in an over-consuming, under-creating cycle.

Over-consumming

We are called Consumers in the west for a reason. We like to take in information, stuff, experiences, and relationships.

The problem comes for highly sensitive people when we spend so long getting input past our comfort limit that we overstimulate ourselves and have to decompress to recover from taking in information.

This has shown up for me in ways like listening to 40 different podcasts and turning episodes into a weekly to-do list I really didn't have time for - "But it's all so good!"

I've gotten to the point now that I have bought so many online courses, I can cycle through all of them and have more than enough to occupy me for years without buying an new ones.

Relate to any of this?

Overconsumption as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)

One of the great pleasures of being highly sensitive is our drive to CREATE things, whether that's a piece of art, a journal entry, a clean living space, or our lives themselves.

When you get caught in the over-consumption cycle, you lose track of the creativity that's your birthright and your spirit's delight.

As HSPs, we are experts at taking in lots of info, seeing the details, nuances, and subtleties, and putting them together to turn them into something new and fascinating and stirring.

Input is only as good as the output you create in your life, your relationships, and your Self.

A Very Woo-Woo Personal Story

Now, I'm going out on a bit of limb this week and sharing some vulnerable things about exactly how woo-woo I am.

I recently joined a very "witchy" course called "Money" with Carolyn Elliott, the author of Existential Kink (which is a fascinating book if you're into Shadow Work - more on that in another post!).

It's woo-woo even for my standards.

We're doing moon rituals to contemplate the infinity of the Universe and making lists of our deepest fears in order to tear them up and release them.

My weird, mystical soul is LOVING this.

The most recent lesson was about Mars as a symbol of activity, action, and assertiveness.

It's about getting messy and making progress over perfection in the pursuit of your goals.

In my case, growing my business and having the courage to write things on the internet, where it seems like they'll live forever.

Something that struck me from this lesson in a flash of insight is about masculine vs. feminine energy.

As a highly sensitive person (HSP), I notice that high sensitivity is often paired with traditionally "feminine" traits in the west - empathy, deep understanding and wisdom, needing periods of quiet and solitude, appreciating subtle, delicate things in life, etc.

I have built my life around being able to avoid crowds and bars where the noise and smells and cacophony of sights is more easily overwhelming (for instance).

I've sought female instructors and experts to show me how to navigate entrepreneurship from a place of peace and intuition, rather than barreling full-speed-ahead and having a "go-go-GO!" attitude more typical of corporate and traditional male businesses.

This has been a LONG process of figuring out what works for me as a woman and an HSP.

Interacting with "Mars" energy has given me a glimpse into an aspect of myself I've been ignoring or actively shunning for a long time - my inner masculinity!

Masculine vs. Feminine Energy

We ALL have both masculine and feminine energy inside us, like the yin-yang.

They balance each other in whatever proportion makes most sense for us, but they AREN'T mutually exclusive.

They are inclusive and essential to each other.

Ever notice how the yin-yang has an "eye" of the other color inside it?

It's because those energies are meant to be in balance and harmony with each other.

That doesn't mean a perfectly even, 50/50 split.

It means a fluid melding of the two so you can channel whichever energy is most helpful and fulfilling for you in each moment, knowing that whether you bring forth more masculine energy or more feminine energy, the other is always present and supporting / protecting the one out front.

I had never considered in these terms that there's masculine energy in me that is part of my humanity and mine to incorporate and use at my discretion.

Let's talk for a second about what these two energies "mean."

When I say feminine energy, I mean the energy of reflection, slow but consistent force like the ocean or tectonic plates, intuition and wisdom, depth, and receptivity & input.

When I say masculine energy, I mean the energy of action, of jumping in and playing, challenging, burning bright and hot like a fire, learning through experience, and contributing, offering, & output.

We all have both energies, but we may call them different things or look at them in other ways.

Ending the Overconsumption Cycle

Coming full circle, let's go back to overconsumption, especially of information and learning.

Consuming can spark new ideas and perspectives.

It helps you feel connected, seen, and understood by someone who "gets" you and your dreams and your struggles.

Overconsuming leaves you feeling mentally "bloated," tired, and full of other people's ideas while losing sight of your own.

Overconsumption is a sign that your "feminine" energies of input and receiving are overgrown and out of whack.

We're not meant to only take in information or experiences from others - we're meant to live our lives fully as well.

You probably overconsume because you:

• Don't believe you know enough to "do a good job"
  

• Want to gather all the "best" information to make the "best" choice
  

• Feel more comfortable going slowly and processing deeply
  

• Are out of the habit of taking action and allowing it to be messy
  

Here's the thing though, overconsuming is like letting the fruit get stale and mealy. It's better when you eat it while it's fresh and enjoy it before moving onto something else.

So, as with myself, I want to offer the same insight and encouragement to you.

If you've got an "overgrowth" of feminine input, try embracing your masculine output energy.

Here are some simple ways to get you out of the input cycle and back to output and action:

• Share something exciting and / or vulnerable with someone
  

• Write a journal entry, a blog post, or a formal piece of (non)fiction
  

• Paint, draw, knit, build some IKEA furniture - do something with your hands!
  

• Get outside
  

• Go for a walk
  

• Play something not on a screen
  

• Roll around in the grass
  

• Take care of a home repair project
  

• Record a video and post or send it

The possibilities to create the life you want and to take small, purposeful action (that still makes your high sensitivity feel happy) are ALL AROUND YOU!

I'm embracing my masculine energy to share this insight with you in a public way, right this very moment.

What can you do to balance your energies and honor both your masculine and feminine self?

Big, warm vibes,

Steph