Falling Out With Social Media
Social media is weird.
We paint a perfect picture and curate an online perception of the perfect life with sunny holidays and smug looking couple pics (guilty). Or we reveal details about the tougher times we’re going through to ‘keep it real’ and be honest about what’s really going on. Maybe the anonymity online allows you to say what you feel without fear of judgement or interruption. Or maybe writing things down is just easier than saying them out loud (it is for me anyway!) Sharing the ups and downs with someone in real life will always be better than anything social media can give you.
Too much time in this virtual world, whether you’re looking at positive posts or not, isn’t good for mental health. Comparison with others and/or creating unhealthy expectations for what life and relationships SHOULD look like isn’t sustainable. It isn’t good for you and it isn’t good for those around you.
I’m loving sharing my trip; taking nice photos (or stealing Jack’s) and writing about what we’re experiencing is my way of keeping a sort of memory book and it’s giving me a focus and a creative outlet. And always being away from at least one of my homes means it can be the most wonderful thing to see photos of what my friends are doing on the other side of the world. BUT my challenge already in this is to spend less time scrolling before and after I upload my own stuff. Mindless time on my phone in any way really doesn’t do good things to my brain. And I’ve got a lot of time on my hands at the moment. So here’s my practice. (My yoga practice, if you like). To use social media in a way that works FOR me and stop, put my phone down or close my laptop before it starts working AGAINST me.
Get curious about how you’re spending your time on your socials. Are you mindlessly scrolling or are you finding inspiration? The positive sides are there if you look in the right places. You can create connections with people all over the world or you can end up feeling totally disconnected from even those closest to you. There’s toxicity as well as beauty to be found and it can be really hard to switch off and remove yourself from the parts of it that maybe don’t make you feel so good. So STAY curious. Which accounts do you follow that are making you feel like your life or relationships might be inadequate? Take steps to unfollow, remove the app from your phone or monitor the time you spend scrolling each day. Let that curiosity shape your relationship with social media in a way that maybe (depending on who you are) you don’t have to fall out with it entirely.