I’ve spent a lot of time this year contemplating the idea of thinking your own thoughts. I mentioned at some point recently that I had considered doing a year in which I attempted to live a more analog life than the one I’m already living now. I haven’t done that, but I’ve thought a lot about it.

I’ve thought about why it seems so difficult to make that jump. I’ve considered where we as a culture went so wrong with the online life. I’ve wrestled with the emergence of AI and what to do with it (or not). I’ve deleted Twitter/X (again) and came very close a few times over the summer to deleting the social media accounts I still have. I’ve thought for a couple of months about going back on Facebook (again) to try to connect with more homeschool moms and also join a few groups related to things that are important to me at the moment. (I haven’t been able to convince myself to do it although I’ve come close a few days.)

But all of this started me thinking about where our thoughts come from. In the past, ideas from books, conversations with people in our limited real-life social circles, and faith influences (church, Bible, etc.) would spark our thoughts. Now they are influenced primarily by social media, YouTube videos, and vast numbers of people we will never meet in real life.

For example, it’s 4:12 a.m. as I’m writing this. I haven’t really slept. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s age related? I’m not worried about anything that’s keeping me awake. I’m just awake. What do I usually do when I can’t sleep? I scroll YouTube on my Kindle with earbuds on so I don’t wake David. I probably would read, but I don’t want to turn the light on and bother him. I could get a book light, but I haven’t done that. And for some reason, I don’t like reading my Kobo in the dark. So I scroll YouTube. It’s dumb and I know it is dumb. Just typing this here tells me I need to go to Barnes & Noble today and buy a book light so I can read when I can’t sleep. Stop being dumb, Sallie.

This time I got up and came into my office. I’m typing up this post that I started thinking about while scrolling YouTube in the middle of the night and watching videos that were primarily about loss (miscarriage, death of a spouse, quitting online businesses, etc.). Again, dumb. I know. (The videos, not the typing.) Why am I watching sad videos in the middle of the night?

Maybe I’m the only one with this problem? Probably not. We are a nation addicted to scrolling in all forms when bored or lonely (or, in my case, unable to sleep). I’m doing it on my Kindle. Most people do it on their phone.

How do we reclaim the ability to think our own thoughts? For some of us, it would mean radical changes. I know what I would have to do and I anticipate it would make me feel really cut off from the world. I’m not even talking about quitting the online world, but just radically reducing how many ways I interact with it. To be honest, I’ve been online so long and to such a significant degree that I can’t quite imagine what it would be like to barely be online or only use the internet for a few things (such as writing a blog). Making a change like that might not be a bad thing. It might be the best thing ever. There is only one way to know. But it is a step of faith in many ways. At least it is for me.

I know myself. I know this quote is so true about me which is why I have to delete Twitter/X rather than just ignore it like other people can when they need a break from it.

For some people, it’s easier to just completely remove something than try to balance it. Not everyone is like that. But some of us are wired this way.

I’m asking myself now in the wee hours of the morning what drives the moment by moment thinking of Christians today.

• Is it God or Google?
• Is it the Holy Spirit’s life-giving wisdom or social media’s dopamine hits?
• Is it Jesus shepherding me or junk-filled algorithms?
• Is it biblical truth or worldly distractions?

How much more challenging is it to live the cozy life if you struggle to think your own thoughts?

A cozy life or cozy living is what I call the coming together of purposeful living, simple living, and faithful living.

• Purposeful Living – We make purposeful choices rather than going with the flow, even if it means being different from the crowd.
• Simple Living – We include only those things in our life that bring real value.
• Faithful Living – We make choices that align with our faith and core beliefs.

So cozy living is living purposefully and simply according to our deeply held beliefs.

Time for me to save this draft and try to get a few hours of sleep before my day begins.

How do you guard your mind/life and think your own thoughts? Or do you need to make some changes like I probably do?

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