It’s been a little while since I blogged about some ‘niche’ aspect of wellness that’s happened to pique my interest, but today…the hiatus has officially been broken, and by none other than the…
The screenshot!
The humble screenshot is possibly one of THE greatest tools in my creative (and organisational) toolkit!
Currently, I have 7678 amassed in my (almost-maxed-out) iPhone memory, and although 90% of these could and should probably be deleted, the most recent ones are invaluable!
They’re a source of inspiration when creativity runs dry, and the sole reason that things get remembered, which otherwise would have been rapidly forgotten.
Just this week alone, I’ve added to my digital scrapbook of scroll-stoppers the following little gems:
A screen grab of ‘neuroplasticity in action’ (honestly… it’s fascinating!)
A screen grab of an influencer who’d mastered ‘the bridge’ in later life
A craft activity of a paper hand holding picked flowers (one for the mums of art-loving kids!!)
An ‘anti-style’ influencer championing the power of the ordinary jeans and a tee look
A screenshot on low iron symptoms
A screenshot on ‘contamination OCD’ symptoms
A meme saying that ‘kids will never appreciate the amount of extroverting that introverted parents have for do for them.’
A sketch of two ladders and two stick men climbing them. One ladder with wide-apart steps, the other short, narrow ones… to demonstrate the power of small steps vs giant leaps!
The purpose of this list, and indeed this post!?
Well, I guess it’s to highlight that beneath the vacuous, pointless exterior of 'swipe and scroll' culture, there's a whole world of positive lifestyle decisions whose roots are in something screenshotted on social media.
This, of course, isn’t to be mistaken as an endorsement for screen time, nor intended to encourage the abandonment of good old fashioned pen and paper for note-taking purposes.
However, what it is, is a moment of recognition for the side-button-volume-up facility - something which has enabled me to have in my hot little hand, one-tap access to all the moments that have ever sparked resonance, intrigue, inspiration and imagination.
In times of stagnation and strife (think writers block, recipe ruts... or bored children!), I've quite often found remedy in the split second screenshotting decisions of my past self. The recipes, the musings, the loo-roll-art ideas, the 'fun facts', the grown adults seen mastering back-bending contortions, the likes of which most of us haven't even attempted since leaving junior school.
Arguably, it's the sum of all of these captured online moments, and how they feed into problem solving, creativity and resourcefulness, that feels enough to justify my occasional ‘aimless’ scrolling as something purposeful, whilst simultaneously explaining away any and all of the unrealistic fitness goals I might happen to set myself.
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