Like many people, I have been trying to wrestle my brain away from the call of social media. Here’s the only thing that has really worked: Solitaire on my phone.
My mom loves games of all kinds—except for video games, because she doesn’t want to use a computer unless it’s for work and doesn’t really understand how a controller works. When I lived with my parents I would sometimes walk downstairs to see her with a deck of cards laid out on the kitchen table, playing Solitaire by herself. It was a way to pass the time and calm her mind, slowly organizing the cards into their suits.
I have a lot in common with my mother, including a desire to always be doing something with my hands. Unfortunately, this has led to me doom scrolling and posting when I really shouldn’t be. A post from friend of the site Bee Wertheimer, which mentioned that her Solitaire app had added bullshit like streaks and perks, made me remember my mom’s old Solitaire habit. It turns out adding a Solitaire app to my phone was an incredible choice to make.
Solitaire is a game that requires just enough concentration that it makes me actually use my brain, but not so much that I cannot watch television while I do it. I have to have enough presence of mind to distinguish between suit colors and, you know, count, but not so much that I start to bounce off it because I have to think too hard. In short, it is the perfect thing to do when I’m kinda stoned on the couch in the evening, time which was usually filled by making bad posts on Bluesky.
In many ways, Solitaire is a perfect game. Every shuffle is different, and depending on how many cards you draw from the deck, a game can also simply be unwinnable, which is fine when you’re playing on an app and can start a new game in seconds. The simplicity of its rules—alternate deck colors on stacks of cards and then organize them by suit—leads to endless variation in play. It is just enough randomness that each shuffle feels wholly different, meaning I don’t ever feel like I’ve maxed out the game and can stop playing it. When I’m trying to figure out how to get a red seven on a black eight, the part of my brain that is drawn to posting redirects its energy to what’s in front of me.
The real solution to my problems is, I know, getting back on ADHD medication. But until the moment that RFK Jr. is a smoking crater in the earth, Solitaire is giving me some of my attention span back. Thanks, Mom.
