July
Yes, I’ve complained
about your heat
Unusual for sun
to shine everyday
on repeat.
As my month of birth,
your frequency is
high in resonance
Up, sparkly and bright
cloaked with love,
basked in joy.
Then down,
withering in defeat.
And then,
I catch my breath,
pause to notice
luminous orange orbs,
dappled incandescence.
Sparkling sea,
wearing short shorts,
riding my bike
all hours, day and night
hearing singing cyclists,
we chatter;
‘it’s a heartache,
Bonnie Tyler died’
‘Oh’, we say,
with sadness.
Lovely humans.
All around us
beauty,
I’m reminded
there’s a ‘plenty
for which I am beholden.
Dear neurokin,
This week, I’ve been remembering when I heard these words;
‘imagine when you can wake up in the morning reach for your phone and you’ll be able to check out the weather for the day ahead, engage with your socials, read the news, shop and respond to your emails. All in one place, on one device.’ said Martin, the handsome hipster from the IT Innovation Lab.
It was circa 2009 and Martin, along with other senior leaders at the online fashion brand I worked at, were presenting us with their vision for the future.
Every single one of us in that room were excited about the prospect of having access to all this information at our fingertips, on one device.
At.
All.
Times.
Around this time another senior leader, who had just returned from a trip to the U.S, gathered a few of us around an iPad, that was yet to be released to the world.
I remember being genuinely astounded by a ToyStory App they were showing us, an interactive storytelling app. This slim computer, a sort of giant iPhone, was amazing.
It was all so new and exciting.
Here we are in the summer of 2026 and I feel like my iPhone is keeping me prisoner from the physical world around me.
Even when I’m watching something on TV or a film, I keep checking it, following the same programmed rhythm, first checking the Guardian, then Instagram, emails and finally WhatsApp’s.
A neural pathway has formed that makes me keep searching for new information.
For what? What do I need to check? What do I really need to know? What is it I’m looking for?
I really don’t know and that makes me realise I have become addicted to this device that seems to store my whole life on it.
Yes, it’s convenient and it’s also making me feel incredibly trapped.
Sometimes I pick it up with a thought of something I need to check, only to be distracted by something totally unrelated. 10 minutes, or even a whole hour, can disappear into the ether
I don’t like this feeling and I don’t like being constantly hypervigillant for new information. I am in a constant state of distraction. (Yes, there’s the ADHD, and this technological attention thief is not helping)
Never mind banning social media for under 16 year olds. I’d love someone to ban it for adults too! A magical button to turn off the world wide web. I feel like I need to take back control of my attention, my nervous system and to stop searching. To have the capacity to really notice what’s going on around me.
I think that’s one of the reasons social media makes me feel deeply uncomfortable, I am conscious that I am being drawn into a vortex, sucked into a whirlpool and all the shouty, nonsensical adverts make me feel jittery.
I like it here, on Substack. I love reading other peoples thoughts and ideas in essays and articles. And, now I’m drowning in the emails with all the words I don’t have time to read or fully contemplate.
I’ve been struggling to read books for quite a long time now. Partly because I’m navigating a big life change this year, but really it’s mostly down to the fact that my iPhone and iPad have totally stolen my attention.
So, dear neurokin, this August I am going analogue, offline.
I want to fill my mind with words and other worlds in tales and stories from beautiful books. I want slow input and to not feel pressure to generate output.
In August, I will search only for simplicity.
Noticing what you need and choosing to adapt to that is a healthy sign of living well beyond neurodivergent discovery. It’s a salute to growth.
I will pause all paid subscriptions for the month of August.
In September, I’ll remember all the things I want to create and bring to this space and beyond.
I hope August is a month of replenishment for you.
Thanks for reading.
Andrea x
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Five things to ponder
What steals too much of your attention and emotional energy?
What awareness do you have about the attention patterns your mind has become programmed to follow?
If you crave simplicity, what will that look or feel like?
What are you noticing you need in the month ahead?
What adjustments will you help to adapt to your needs?