Hey! Welcome to my kitchen and welcome to my series I’m calling “Life, Love & Lasagna”.

We’re going to talk about life and love-

our love for life, our love for others, our family, our friends, ourselves.

And lasagna.

Yep, we’re going to talk about food.

With each post and video, I’m going to fix a food dish that ties in with our life topic and share the recipe with you.

Popcorn Brain

Let’s talk about popcorn brain. 

Back in 2011, researcher David Levy  described our brains on all the electronic overstimulation- the constant multitasking and bombardment of energy that we have as we’re living our life on all these devices.

He called it popcorn brain.

It’s a pretty apt description.

What happens with popcorn brain is that we’re so used to things happening – pop, pOp, POP- like  popcorn in the air popper. 

Something is constantly happening and you really don’t have to wait that long for it to happen.

The Danger of Popcorn Brain

The danger with this is that the speed and the bombardment that happens with our electronic life is not the same speed that happens with things in our regular life.

When we carry over that popcorn life from our electronics into regular life-

it doesn’t feel right, there’s some weird feelings with this.

Social Media Lures Us In

We also want to keep in mind that social media is designed to lure us in and keep us there.

Think about Facebook or Instagram or whatever your favorite platform is.

It’s designed with infinite scroll.

There’s no natural breathing point; there’s not a stopping place.

We want more. 

More, more, more. 

We don’t want to miss out on anything and it’s continuously coming at us. 

This is NOT the pace of real life.

So what can we do about popcorn brain? 

I have three suggestions:

1. Be AWARE of it. 

Recognize that your brain, your attention,  things are different when you’re scrolling on your devices, when you’re checking your emails, when you’re on Zoom, whatever it is you’re doing. 

Life is different online. 

The pace is fast so be aware.

     2. Set some BOUNDARIES.

Decide that an hour of your evening is going to be device-free.

Step back into real life without devices.

     3. Be INTENTIONAL.

Consciously choose to slow down. 

Make some actual popcorn. 

Eat it. 

One last thought I have about popcorn brain.

Popcorn is like any other food.

Too much of it is not a good thing.

Even if it’s the healthiest food for your body, 

our body needs a balance of food.

Our lives need a balance too.

Technology, social media, Zoom, being able to be online and be in contact with our clients and customers and friends and family-

Being able to do this virtually, especially this year during the pandemic-

it’s been so important. 

It’s been a lifeline for so many people

so it’s been good, it’s been valuable.

But too much of it is NOT good.

Keep a balance.

Know that our brains want to be popcorn brains.

Do something good.

Do something beautiful and lovely with your popcorn.