Hi Reader,
I've heard from a few of you who are interested in learning more about emotion regulation strategies, so this week's blog is about distraction and how to tell the difference between healthy distraction and unhealthy distraction.
I've been grappling with my own use of distraction as a coping strategy recently, wondering if turning off the news because I'm overwhelmed by emotion is a form of denial (or civic irresponsibility).
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I've landed at the conclusion that the answer is context-dependent (which is almost always where I land when analyzing behavior), and that each of us is responsible for where we direct our attention, and how this direction intersects with our values and communities.
In today's blog post, I share 4 questions to help you reflect on your own use of distraction, and I've listed them below if you're pressed for time:
- Are you mindfully applying distraction, or are you engaging in distraction without even realizing it?
- How much control do you have over the circumstances?
- Is distraction your only coping strategy for managing difficult circumstances?
- What are the short-term and long-term impacts of your distraction?
π₯ I didn't record a YouTube video this week because I'm currently in Mumbai, India.
This week happens to be a Hindu festival during which statues of the deity Ganesh are immersed in water after a period of celebration.
I took the photo below down the street from my parents' house. You can't tell by the photo, but that statue is about 20 feet tall.
I'll be back next week with a blog + video. Until then, happy September!
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