Sunday, January 3, 2010

Soft addictions

The front page article today in the Flairsection of the Richmond Times Dispatch spoke of soft addictions. Things that "fritter " time away. Things like Facebook, and My Space, computer games and TV or internet surfing. I am guilty of such things. The latest is Jewel Quest. A game I have played in the past and I am trying to master now. I was addicted to facebook for awhile, playing the Zynga games on there. But they bored me because there was no newness to them. I will tire of Jewel Quest eventually as well.

I think about the other things we get addicted to. Shopping, eating, exercising. These things are soft. Unlike the hard addictions of body/mind altering substances, porn, caffeine, smoking. These could kill you. These have a detrimental effect on your daily life should they be done in something other than moderation.

One could argue that the soft addictions have a way of effecting your daily life as well. Your project, or that paper you were going to write, the books you wanted to read, the interaction with your family are lost as you click, surf, and play. Human interaction is what counts in the long run. You will never have wanted to spend more time at the office, being jealous and angry or petty over intended or unintended slights. You will never have wanted to get to the next level on Mafia wars...(there is no highest level, as my husband pointed out... it is endless).

Ah but there are those of us who love to play games. Perhaps your partner does not like to play the logic games or the word games that you like to... but instituting a family game night or working a crossword together is a way to make an inroad. Just being with them and talking can make a difference. I love to play word games and logic games.

Now I have a list of things to do, but I think I am going to do one board of Jewel Quest before I do that. Then after I accomplish something, I will come back. Moderation. Moderation.

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