Dopamine overload

Yesterday, while cleaning the barn, I took a short break to catch my breath after shoveling a bunch of stuff into the wheelbarrow (cow manure is heavy!).

So there I was, momentarily paused, just inside the barn door, leaning on the shovel handle. I looked up and saw a bald eagle wheeling in slow circles over the valley, visible above the tops of the pine trees. I could see its bright white head and tail contrasting with its black body as it circled around. (I didn’t have my camera at the time, but the spot it was circling is depicted below.)

And I thought, “What a privilege to live here.”

Some people might not reach that precise conclusion while ankle deep in cow manure, but honestly that’s exactly what I thought, followed by a swift prayer of thanksgiving for our little farm.

After a few moments’ rest, I picked up the shovel and continued with my task.

Anyway, this brief interlude during a normal workday came back to me this morning when I read an article entitled “How To Feel Joy In A Dopamine-Saturated World.”

“Your brain treats what it sees in Instagram reels the same way it treats cocaine,” the article begins. “Both experiences flood a thumbnail-sized region of the brain with dopamine – a chemical that makes you want more, right now. The problem is that after a certain amount of dopamine hits, your brain adapts by turning down the pleasure volume. As a result, things that once made you feel good are no longer enough. If you’re finding it harder to feel simple joy and genuine connections, you’re experiencing what addiction psychiatrists now recognize as dopamine overload, a state where constant stimulation – especially from cellphones, social media, and ultra-processed foods – quietly erodes your ability to feel your happiest emotions and leaves relationships feeling painfully empty. … [M]odern life delivers dopamine in doses and speeds the human brain is not equipped to handle.”

The solution to this dopamine overload, apparently, is to “detox.” The article continues: “Dopamine overload requires something simpler, though not easier: you have to stop the activity that creates it. … Experts have found that the goal of a dopamine detox is not to eliminate dopamine – which would be impossible and unhealthy – but to reduce overstimulating habits so the brain can rebalance and you can enjoy slower, more meaningful rewards again.”

Such as watching a bald eagle while cleaning up barn waste. Seriously, it was a genuine shot of dopamine at that moment.

The faster the world goes, the more closely I cling to the homesteading life. Maybe, at some level, this is why.