Emily Gorcenski: “…This year I found that answer. Put away the f**ing phone. My morning routine—and I promise I am not going to be one of those sociopathic grindset people with this—doesn’t simply involve not scrolling. It involves reclaiming that time to bring a sense of joy, curiosity, and comfort into my life. I get up and I read. I carry a book with me on the train heading into the office. I read before bed. I’m devouring books again. It feels good. I feel like I’ve found a lost part of my life. And I feel so much more intellectually stimulated. Books have nuance. They offer wisdom. Social media offers shouting and the flattening of complex issues in patronizing and filthy ways. I found something else in this journey: the world isn’t nearly on fire as we think. I don’t mean to minimize the suffering happening in the world, with the horrific wars going on, with civil rights under threat, and with the climate crisis barrelling ever faster towards our present day. But I’ve found that there’s way more good people than bad. There’s way more people willing to help than willing to hurt. Some things are really scary but there’s way more people out there willing to guide us through the darkness than we think. The cynic in me wants to say that the “powers that be” want us to be endlessly doomscrolling and losing hope and snuffing out optimism. We shouldn’t give them what they want. There’s a lot of beauty in the world still within our grasp. We’re better when we’re poets, when we’re learners and listeners, when we’re builders and not breakers. When I read, I learn that there’s no new problems in the world we’re living in. When I take ownership over my own joy, I found that joy is always waiting for us if we choose to make it. And I’m glad I finally figure out how to make it…”