Brain Candy

We all know the dangers of sugary, delicious, utterly bad for you candy. We all love sweets in some way shape or form. My personal weakness is baked goods. When Christmas rolls around I stuff myself so full of cookies and pie that I almost forget my love of turkey and green bean casserole. I know that I loved them but how could they be better than that massive slice of apple pie? I completely forget reason and practically have to detox off the sugar. Seriously. There are cravings.

This raises the question about brain candy. What is brain candy you ask? It functions the same way as that slice of pie. It’s horrible for you. It rots your teeth (brain cells). It fills you up. You don’t remember how great intellectually stimulating things are, all you want is another sugar fix. What’s an example of this? How about romance novels? The writing is crap. I read it and find typos and spelling errors, but oh my God give me another. Trashy novels are my secret addiction. Well, so are horrible youtube videos. I have watched several and I swear I can feel my brain cells screaming out their saccharine sweet demise. I think most people have their secret or not so secret sugary fix - whether it is a blog, video site, poorly written novels, or even television shows and movies. The point is we are immersing ourselves so deeply into all of this brain candy that we are forgetting how good it feels to actually think and learn about things that expand our minds.

I noticed the other morning that I had started reading my facebook news feed like it was the daily paper with my coffee. If that one isn’t a case in point I don’t know what is. I hadn’t even realized that I had started relying on good ole FB for news. I can tell you, as hard as it was to start doing, reading the WSJ on my phone in the morning instead puts me in a better frame of mind throughout the day. And, surprisingly enough, I don’t miss all of the drama and puppy videos all that much.

Has that switch made my mind broader? Has it encouraged me to read more mentally stimulating books? Pay more attention in class? Well, probably not, but much like that piece of turkey at Christmas it has reminded me that I used to like more than the sweets. And maybe, just maybe, if I put down the pie I’ll find the turkey more fulfilling.