Social Media Free

Social Media Detox – HAH!

May 5, 2020

Oh how the mighty have fallen!

I thought I could dip my toes back into the Instagram waters without doing the most, but nope. I spent nearly 12 hours of my life on instagram last week! Even worse, there’s a direct and obvious correlation to the amount of time I spent on Instagram and the number of blog posts I managed to get up on this site. Wretched!

I also felt my mental health falter once I got back on insta. It’s weird because I know in my logical brain that people are just sharing a little slice of their life online, but I find myself getting frustrated that my messy ‘real life’ doesn’t look like their sanitized ‘insta life’.

It’s all good learning for me. It points me to changes I need to make. I want to have instagram in my life, but I need limits. I’m like a little toddler who can’t stop watching Paw Patrol. My adult Meeshy needs to step in and provide a bit of structure and regulation for the out-of-control insta monster Meeshy.

Here’s my plan:

Create before you consume. I want to share and use instagram as a tool for my creativity. I also want to be more of a ‘real’ voice on instagram because that’s what I myself crave from the platform. Real people sharing, not influencers pretending. Be the change, MeeshyD!
Unfollow the people who make you feel like shit. I’m about to hit the mute button! I’m going to sit down today and make a list of the people who’s content edifies my life. They’re making the cut. Everyone else is not allowed on my timeline.
Limit screen time. It’s scary how quickly I become a scrolling robot. I hate it! So, I’m going to allow myself two twenty-minute scrolling sessions everyday, one in the morning and one in the evening. And I’m going to be legit about it with a timer and everything. Hopefully, that will allow me to get ‘insta-spired’, but will help me from welcoming the jealousy monster into my life.
Form real connections online. Instead of scrolling and passing out likes, I want to actually use the tool to foster relationships with people I admire. More DMs and comments and story shares for people who are doing good work on the platform.

That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it! I’ll update you next week to let you know how it goes.

How much time do you spend on instagram everyday??? If you have a good balance, how do you manage it?

Social Media Free

MY SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX – MONTH 1 UPDATE

April 6, 2020

Well, I’m still kinda sorta doing my detox, but I’ve been slipping. Not gonna lie. It’s just so hard to stay off social media right now when there’s just nothing much else to do and I feel so disconnected from the world, sitting in my house all day everyday.

As you can see, I discovered a free jigsaw puzzle app and it sucked me into its vortex. I’d rather do a real live puzzle, but this app is free and it’s fun and I can’t find a real life puzzle for the life of me, either online or at Target. Puzzling is a fun distraction everyday. I was doing multiple puzzles everyday at first, but now I find that I feel better if I just do one per day.

I also downloaded Facebook again. Ostensibly, I downloaded it to use the Facebook marketplace to buy a juicer. Which, I did. Juicer content coming at ya soon. But, I also found myself scrolling and scrolling again on the app. And, I’m not going to lie, it felt good. I watched heartwarming dog videos and I laughed at all the ‘rona memes and I felt connected again.

That Facebook download led me to downloaded instagram yesterday. I miss connecting with my friends. I like to know how they’re doing and I like to support their content. I also really miss sharing my own life online. I crave those moments where I share something that matters to someone else. It makes it all feel worthwhile to me.

So, that’s where I am at.

I want to be back on social media again, but I don’t want it to overrun my life.

Now I’m pondering if I should officially go back and what guidelines I can put in place for myself if I do go back. Should it be strict limits on what I do there? Should I unfollow a bunch of people and just interact with my real, actual friends and accounts that I find inspiring and uplifting? Should I only allow myself to download the app and keep my time on there to less than thirty minutes a day?

It feels silly, all of this angst, but I want to figure it out and I want to do it right in support of my higher self and my goals in life. My social media use got way out of whack for a minute and I want to find a way to enjoy the platforms without them consuming me.

Do you have any tips for me? How do you keep your social media healthy? These little apps have addictive qualities built into them, so I think it’s important that you set intention if you bring them into your life.

I’m thinking I’m going to remove the apps from my phone again until I can figure out a plan. More to come soon, but I’d love it if you could share any ideas you have with me as I ponder on how to approach this.

Social Media Free

I’m Taking a Break from Social Media

March 3, 2020

Yesterday, I was driving home and listening to episode 9 of the A New Earth podcast with Ekhart Tolle and Oprah. I’m listening to it for the second time and it feels like a balm to my soul right now. I think, more than anything, I’m just ready to make major changes in the way I live my life. I have lived all of my life fused with my egoic brain and I am ready to embrace a different way because the tracks I run in my head over and over are limiting and downright painful.

So, Ekhart was talking about inner stillness, rising above your own mental chatter and just being. When he said that, something rang inside of me. I felt my consciousness respond to the idea of inner peace and stillness. Almost immediately, my brain responded with its annoying song about how busy I am and how I never have a moment’s peace because of my responsibilities and my demanding job and on and on. But, I couldn’t let it go. The idea of finding peace and stillness felt incredibly necessary to me at this moment of my life and I resolved to make a way.

I ran through all of the ‘stuff’ in my life that I perceive keeps me away from stillness. At the top of list was time on my phone, especially instagram. I’m not painting social media as the devil. For me, I feel like it does edify my life in so many ways. It expands my thinking of what’s possible and exposes me to all sorts of beauty and connects me with the friends I love so much and allows me to participate in culture, but, for me, right now, it’s just too much.

I am truly addicted to my device.

As I learn more about spirituality, I realize that being present in the now is so critically important. When I’m scrolling endlessly, I am literally unconscious. I lose track of the world around me and I seek out things that reinforce my ego and I’m just not the person I want to be. I’m not the person I need to be.

So, I’m taking a break. My hope is to go social media free for three months.

I’m 24 hours in now. Upon deleting the apps, I immediately felt an internal release. The stillness in my mind was immediate. I felt free.

Since then, I have picked up my phone countless times to get to the apps. Seriously, I scroll through the screens on my phone and click where instagram was even though the app isn’t there anymore, completely unconscious. I also feel uncomfortable inside. Uncomfortable with the stillness. Uncomfortable without the gratification of scrolling, missing feeling like I ‘know’ what is going on in the world, wanting to see if anyone commented on my announcement post for my social media hiatus. How ironic. I’m also feeling my ego stir up real fear in my brain. How will I be good at my job without social media? How can I disconnect like this? Will I lose my friends? Who am I if I’m not the person who ‘knows’ what’s going on in the world, in culture?

But, I expected this feeling. I am prepared for the discomfort. I know that this is not real pain and that I can survive it. I’m curious to see what’s on the other side of it. I hope it’s something beautiful.

How is your relationship with your phone and instagram? Do you feel like you can survive without it? I’m interested to know…