The Holidays Unplugged

I just love holidays, don’t you?

It’s the perfect time to take long baths, read, draw, paint, whatever.

Within a few hours my brain has recharged, it’s loaded with dopamine, and I’m experiencing real happiness.

Of course, happiness is hard to sustain especially when there’s a tech crack-addict hiding in your skull.

Three minutes later, I’m reading Margaret Atwood’s Substack which has been conveniently delivered directly into my inbox. I’m fairly sure the sight of Margaret’s name releases oxytocin or dopamine or crack cocaine directly into my brain. I love her and I highly recommend her Substack, her books, her essays. Hell, if Margaret published her shopping lists, I’d read those as well.

On this occasion though, Margaret tells me there are Nazis on Substack and that the platform is profiting from hate speech. 

This changes my holiday mood a bit.

I finally find an outlet for writing and drawing that doesn’t depend on fellating agents and editors, and now this. 

Suddenly I’m online researching the bloody root cause of hatred, which, according to this bloke, is fear. And brainy doesn’t stop there.

Of course, there’s a very simple answer to all of this.