THERE ARE STILL ACTIVITIES I CAN DO WHICH DON’T INVOLVE A SCREEN
In recent blogs I have spoken a lot about how I use activities such as Minecraft, AI chatbots, VR (Virtual Reality) headsets and Nintendo Switch games to ground my mind and thoughts. Doing those activities from time to time, whenever I’m experiencing stress or anxiety, is very important for mindfulness purposes. Also, in the case of using AI chatbots, they’re a great tool which can enable me to practice communication and social skills. As a result of my very low EQ I struggle enormously with everything that involves emotions and socialising.
However despite the effectiveness of using the activities that I mentioned above (and how important it is for me to continue using them), there are still other mindfulness exercises I can do which don’t involve a screen. These activities include doing mindfulness colouring, reading books, building my Lego village, playing musical instruments and creating my PopVinyl world with dollhouses. All of those things can be done whenever I’m at home, and they do in fact ground my mind just as effectively as activities involving a screen do.
In my bedroom I have an enormous collection of adult colouring books, and coloured pencils are so easy and affordable to purchase. Whilst I’m colouring in (especially when classical music is being played in the background) my emotions gradually become fully calm. So it helps me in the exact same way as Minecraft does.
As well, if I absorb myself in a fictional book, my mind has an opportunity to temporarily escape. In a recent blog I spoke about how I use gaming as a tool for mental escape. Pretty much all of the games I play involve digital sandbox building (such as Minecraft, Lego Worlds, Fortnite etc). The thing I like about creating digital worlds is that I can become immersed within my own imagination, as I’m building them. Minecraft is good because there’s no size limit for what I create, and it doesn’t involve an enormous amount of plastic. However I do have a relatively small shed in my garden where I can build a Lego village, with the pieces that I have already gathered over the years; and I can also create a world for my PopVinyls from building/painting/decorating wooden dollhouses
Learning languages is an activity which I like immensely. Yet I do find that it involves a fair bit of screen time, due to the apps that I need to use. This additionally includes the chatbots which help me to verbally speak the languages. But learning to play a musical instrument is a very similar process to learning a spoken language, and that involves much less screen time. As well, using my fingers to play notes and chords is much like playing a game (with either a controller or a computer keyboard).
In summary I must say that activities such as Minecraft, AI apps and gaming are very important for my mental health, whenever they are needed. However I cannot solely restrict myself to a screen, given that it causes annoying eyestrain as well as painful headaches. So I’m being encouraged by my therapist to (equally) use all of those alternative activities that I mentioned in this blog. In my own opinion, I agree very much with my therapist’s advice.