Headspace Studios.

Hey friends, it's Rosie.

Welcome back to Radio Headspace.

Over the summer, I took a break from social media.

At first, I thought it would just be a little detox, just 30 days tops.

But then something unexpected happened.

I just didn't come back.

No big announcement, no dramatic log-off. I just quietly stepped away.

And within a few weeks, I noticed my nervous system felt different. I wasn't waking up to headlines

that made my chest tighten. I wasn't scrolling myself into outrage before breakfast.

I wasn't constantly being reminded of who to be mad at that day.

And I realized this is what Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman call the outer enemy.

In their book, Love Your Enemies,

they describe the outer enemy as people, institutions,

and systems that cause us harm,

or at least what we perceive as harmful,

the politician who angers us.

The industry polluting our neighborhoods.

The schoolyard bully, the toxic boss, the neighbor who plays loud music at 2 a.m.

And in today's world, our outer enemies also show up on our screens through news cycles, tweets, and the endless

scroll of people yelling at each other.

When we're constantly consuming that, we end up carrying outrage in our own bodies.

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