👀 Don’t mind. Just unwind.
#29 | Satisfaction brought it back
Ever watch videos featuring malleable materials? Like kinetic sand slicing, soap cutting or even paint mixing? Makes for a really satisfying watch, no?
I don’t know if this genre of video existed before the dawn of the Internet, but I do know the genesis of the term Oddly Satisfying happened on Reddit.
These #OddlySatisfying videos encompass everything from simple window cleaning to carving wood blocks with a chisel. And as soon as Instagram got wind of it, there was no looking back. While my first reaction was to wonder what bizarre trend hath been wrought on us now, only to realise #OddlySatisfying has been used over 3.3 million times on Instagram alone. Slime – the thing I hated as a kid (and still do) was Google’s one of the top trends in 2017.
I watched a few videos, wondering who could possibly like something so idiosyncratic and came across a clip of ice being cut with industrial equipment. Suddenly, it dawned on me – I AM the audience. ‘Oddly’ satisfying once I understood my picks.
There’s a scientific reason for this trend – ASMR videos help destress and give you a better night’s sleep and, in ‘our anxious times’, serve as a means of self-care. So many ‘ASMRtists’ out from Maria’ Gentle Whispering‘ Viktorovna to ‘mukbang’ celeb SAS-ASMR to horror ‘Sailor’.
If you’d rather listen, there’s a podcast that narrates episodes of The Office to help people fall asleep without screens. One with whispered readings and ramblings. Relaxing background noise, like street ambiences and rain. Whispered soundscapes.
There is enough of every kind of multimedia available on the wild wild world of the Internet to help you relax, destress and sleep. All you have to do is keep trying until you find your poison.
Until the next Internet fad.
Yours,
Lying in bed and daydreaming is my way of destressing (only to stress over all the wasted time later, it’s a never-ending paradox, you see).