Attention Is Not Addiction

Or is it?

Symptoms of a Manageable Condition

I do not check Substack.
I glance.
Repeatedly.
With professional detachment.

This is not addiction.
It is engagement monitoring
for work that is unquestionably art
and possibly a personality disorder.

I tell myself I will stop
after this refresh.
Or the next.
Or once the number stabilizes,
which it does not,
because Substack does not behave that way.

Someone liked a sentence
I wrote while half asleep.
This feels relevant.
Possibly instructive.

I open Notes
to observe ongoing conversation.
I leave with three drafts,
a clarified position,
and a reason to keep writing.

My screen time report is concerning
but not inaccurate.

If attention functions as currency,
I am paying close attention to its movement.

I could stop at any time.
After this post.
After the next.
After the thought finishes arranging itself.

If this is a problem,
it is at least well documented.

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Author’s Note

This poem should be read less as a confession and more as an observational account.

Feel free to comment if you recognize yourself in any of my words.

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