A gooey entanglement holds me still. I’m stuck. Not only can I not move, but I also have no willpower to do so. I saw it coming.

On Facebook, I scrolled unseeingly through posts I didn’t care about and watched videos I had little hankering for. On Twitter, I followed trending topics just because. Boring! Instagram was better. Reel after reel drew me in. And then on YouTube, the shorts got me high. I consumed social media “content” like food. No! Social media feed consumed me like fire consumes dry leaves! Each scroll, each reel, each short was a gooey strand clamping down on me.

Now I am entangled, and I can’t even fight. I want to, but I don’t want to. Do you know what I mean? I desperately want to get out of this unfreedom, this lack of control. But there is not a single ounce of strength left in me. Worse, I am comfortable in the discomfort. It is like falling into a ditch, getting cozy and warm in the stinky mud, and convincing your mind that the stench is actually an alluring fragrance. You want to get out and clean yourself up and go on with your journey, but the warmth is so enticing that you just find yourself sinking deeper. Willingly and unwillingly!

I get up from my well-worn seat. Should I work out, pray, find something to eat, make myself a warm beverage, or just watch that “Friends” clip for the thousandth time? I can’t decide. My to-do list screams at me.

Then I realize with a jolt that it’s indecision and hesitation that got me into these social media shackles when I woke up. In my mind’s eye, I now see the well-disguised monster. Its claws are retracted, leaving soft, furry paws. The menace of the brain rot it causes is hidden in the short-term reward of dopamine highs. Its approach is always nonthreatening, its company ever friendly, and its nudges invariably gentle and comforting. Yet it remains a fire-breathing monster. I must flee!

I run to the bathroom, brush my teeth, take a shower, get dressed, and go out for a walk. The gooey strands start coming off. I pray as I walk – Abba Father, purify my mind in the holy blood of Jesus, and fill my mind with the Holy Spirit. The strands fall off one after another… I am a new man. How long will I maintain my newness?