Let’s talk about that bizarre rabbit hole we all fall into.

You know the one – it starts with “just checking notifications” and ends with you, bleary-eyed at midnight, watching someone’s golden retriever try to catch a soap bubble.

For the twelfth time.

I don’t even own a dog.

And then there’s the makeup tutorials. Oh, the makeup tutorials.

There I am, someone who considers lip balm a major cosmetic commitment, completely mesmerized by a stranger applying 17 different products in an order that feels like advanced algebra. Why am I watching this? What life choices led me here?

These videos are like digital potato chips – oddly addictive even when they have absolutely nothing to do with our real lives. One minute you’re checking a work message, and suddenly you’re invested in whether a cat in Japan can successfully jump onto a particularly high shelf.

The algorithms know us better than we know ourselves. They serve up an endless buffet of strangely satisfying content, each video more hypnotic than the last. “You don’t wear makeup? Here’s a 20-minute contouring guide! Don’t have pets? Watch this compilation of parrots dancing to pop music!”

But here’s the thing: every minute spent watching someone else’s cat chase a laser pointer is a minute we’re not living our own story. Those half-hours add up. They pile into hours, days, weeks of watching other people do things instead of doing things ourselves.

So maybe next time my thumb hovers over that app icon, I’ll ask myself: Do I really need to watch another stranger organize their refrigerator? (Even if they do have those really nice clear containers that make everything look so satisfying…)

The world won’t end if we miss the latest viral dance trend or don’t know what that one cat in Tennessee had for breakfast.

Promise.