Should We Brick Ourselves From Social Media? | That Was Us

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Well, isn't that the thing guys that I am like very much wrestling with these days is like we are so >> inundated with everything >> content like you said shock and awe.

[00:00:13]Shock and awe. Nothing is shocking these days because it is all in front of us at all times at any moment >> as soon as it happens.

[00:00:20]>> As soon as it happens or we can find find the commentary on it. It's just like when you speak to the fact that we are not supposed to know more than 75 people, my brain immediately goes to the internet. Yeah. And to our phones and how connected we are. and obviously the wonderful aspects of it, but also I feel like I am plagued now more more so than ever before by by the the negative aspects of it where I just have really taken strides in the last like month or so to be like I am >> extricating myself from this sense of responsibility >> that I feel to be on my phone all the time and I'm >> Clint related or just Like you're just trying to >> This is not I was like lint. No, Lent.

[00:01:11]Not Lent related. No, I'm not a good Catholic.

[00:01:14]>> This is where we find out. This is where we >> Randy Randy is a devout Catholic. After five season five seasons, we >> No, it's just more of like like I woke up and was like, why I feel so bad? Why am I allowing myself?

[00:01:30]>> Yeah.

[00:01:30]>> Chris realized this long ago.

[00:01:33]>> I'm like, I don't want to make I don't want to feel bad anymore. What does it mean? What does it look like? What?

[00:01:37]>> It means I am bricked from my phone >> for like certain hours or what does the brick do?

[00:01:43]>> The brick is like a little plastic device.

[00:01:46]>> They should advertise on our podcast. A big brick shout out. I'm a I am I will extol the virtues of why it is. So, it's great for us all to be on the brick.

[00:01:57]>> It It's a little device that you basically you download an app. You choose what uh apps you want to be sort of like um bricked from.

[00:02:07]>> Yeah.

[00:02:08]>> Not have access to and you physically have to touch your phone to it to allow access to and from these apps. Oh wow.

[00:02:17]>> So people will leave this little plastic device in their car, at the office, at home, wherever.

[00:02:22]>> Yeah.

[00:02:23]>> And you don't like I can't get on any social media apps >> really. And I have to tell you, there's something about the wiring in our brains, like literally being away from it for a couple hours, your brain forgets about it. When you physically can't get on and you don't have access, like my husband will delete it and then read it, delete it and then read it. But when you can't get on it, your brain just goes, "Okay, >> so now I have bandwidth to do >> anything else." and I can still text message or answer emails or whatever, but I just realized, >> oh, I'm my life is being sucked away from me by choice >> and I'm like sitting in bed while my husband's reading and I'm scrolling for 30 minutes or whatever, finding things I don't care about. Like, I never get off my phone and go, >> I'm so glad I did that. Like, I feel great for spending an hour just like mindlessly looking on my phone at things I don't care about, I don't need to know. and just being away from it. Yes, you feel slightly like untethered or out of touch with like what my friends are doing or whatever what's happening in the world, >> but also you realize like, oh, I don't care. I don't need to know any of that stuff. All of that to say it just like yeah I'm I'm when I watch things or read things or we're talking about things now where there's any sort of connection to >> something that comes back to like being connected to the phones or connected by an event that's happening or something.

[00:03:56]It just makes me realize like, oh, we don't I think it's going to become more and more of a thing for people to to >> Yeah.

[00:04:04]>> be more intentional with the time that we're choosing to spend, >> right, >> on these apps or connected to each other in that way because I I just >> again, not to go down like a real rabbit hole, but >> it's designed to make us feel bad. It's designed to make us feel depressed. It's designed to make us feel isolated. And I was like, I'm just not going to buy into that anymore. I'm going to choose when I want to go on for 5 minutes and 10 minutes, post a couple pictures, accept the collab for the podcast, >> and then be done with it again. And like really be present for my family, for myself in a way >> cuz I just like it makes me feel really shitty. And I was like, wait, why am I doing this to myself anymore? So yeah.

[00:04:48]>> Yeah, >> that's my little PSA.

[00:04:50]>> I like it.

[00:04:50]>> We've lost we've lost value in the analog, right? in the in the analog interaction, in the analog activity, in the physical encounter. You know, you hear all of these these stats about the anxious generation, the the the ones coming up behind us and and the fact that they there's all these stats, you know, they're not drinking alcohol, they're not they're not having sex, they're not all these things, which is like brought, you know, teenage birth rates down, but they also don't know how to have a conversation with a person.

[00:05:22]Yeah. They don't, you know, because they're not spending any they're not drinking alcohol and they're not they're not accidentally getting pregnant because they're they're not spending any time together on their >> phones. Yeah. So, there's these ups and downs of like trying to figure out how how we can stay connected, especially now that everything is just at our fingertips, you know, entertainment >> and the convenience is great, but I think it's like being intentional and knowing what you're like what you're spending your time with.

[00:05:52]order.

[00:06:02]>> And really how it colors our world, how we see the world, how we experience the world that I sort of, again, maybe as an old person almost 42, I'm like, "Oh, I don't like this anymore." And I don't like how my instinct when my kids go to like play with a toy or read a book is to like absently check my phone. I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no. I don't want to be that parent.

[00:06:28]>> I I >> I'm missing out."

[00:06:29]>> A few a few uh maybe a long time ago now, we talked about the artist way and and I was running an artist way group um over Zoom.

[00:06:37]>> Did this with you, right?

[00:06:38]>> Yeah. Cassie's on it. Yeah. And and it's a bunch of parent It's essentially ended up being a bunch of parents with kids under the age of eight.

[00:06:47]>> Yeah.

[00:06:47]>> Okay.

[00:06:48]>> And friends of ours who are all over the country, St. Louis, New York, Oregon, like all all over.

[00:06:54]>> Yeah.

[00:06:55]>> And what we've realized is at on Tuesdays at 9:30 after all the kids have been dropped off, we log on and we discuss a chapter or whatever, but we're done with the book.

[00:07:07]>> We're done with Artist Way and we're like, Let's just How about how about we do this? How about this is just on the calendar. Yeah.

[00:07:14]>> You know what I mean? And Tuesdays at 9:30, >> someone will be here, right?

[00:07:19]>> We might not all be here all the time, >> but and this is where >> at least I know it's still a digital connection, but it's it's a way for us to to take a moment and just be like, "No, I'm I I want to commit to this."

[00:07:33]Like, I want to commit to this. That's a different thing than commenting on a picture or a video on social media. You know what I mean? It's like that is that's real connection. That's not connection. You're not you're talking to a [ __ ] bot. You're talking You know what I mean? Like it's that's that's cool. And that's what's what is a a lovely aspect of >> the convenience of our phones and computers and technology and all of that.

[00:07:56]>> I I love that. And I feel like I I crave more of that in my life, too. Yeah.

[00:08:10]>> Finding ways like that to sort of bring each other into our lives on a weekly basis sounds >> you just commit to it like going like going to the gym you know it's like >> no this is something that I need that's important >> like this is not that's important >> value to my life.

[00:08:24]>> Yes. It's it's um >> it's community and and and interaction even though it's happening over screen just like um the episode that we did a couple of weeks ago or whatnot, >> but instead of this e community which is is very different because it's also based on an algorithm. And so to their point about the moon landing, there's very few things that we are universally consuming as as the world.

[00:08:50]>> What what what is on my algorith? It's not on.

[00:08:53]>> It's different than your algorithm. It's different than your algorithm. I looked at Ryan's and I was like, man, I >> I this is crazy. Like you look at completely different things than what I'm looking at. So the opportunity to experience something collectively >> has gone away.

[00:09:09]>> Yeah.

[00:09:09]>> You know, so like you'd think it would be have become easier.

[00:09:13]>> Listen, even we talking about the moon landing. Even something as simple as being a kid, waking up on Saturday morning >> so you could watch Smurfs, so you could watch this and then on Monday say, "Did you see the episode?"

[00:09:27]>> That doesn't exist because they can watch what they want when they want to watch >> at any time.

[00:09:32]>> It's a whole new world.

[00:09:34]>> Yeah.

[00:09:34]>> Yeah. And they're never bored, which I think is like Yeah. Got to be bored.

[00:09:41]>> Yeah. We're we're having that that kind of issue with Bear right now where it seems like he's he's reaching for control over things. You know how toddlers will do that? We're like, "No."

[00:09:52]And they put their foot down. I'm like, "I" And it's like they're trying to wrench control back over the over something. And I'm like, >> I don't think it's because he doesn't have control over things. I think it's because he's in control of everything.

[00:10:06]>> Yeah.

[00:10:09]>> Yeah. That's Wow, I hear you.

[00:10:12]>> Like, and I think that's freaking him out.

[00:10:15]>> Yeah.

[00:10:16]>> Like like I shouldn't be in control of this many things.

[00:10:18]>> I'm five, >> you know. I'm five. Like, stop giving me all these choices.

[00:10:25]>> You know, it's like we've been given this idea of like parenting where it's like, oh no, you can ch you can you can have the choice. Do you want to wear these pajamas or these pajamas?

[00:10:33]>> He's like, just put me in pajamas. It's like too many choices.