I Gave Up Social Media...And I Liked It.
I don't always observe the lent season leading up to Easter.
Sometimes if I do, it's just the week leading up to Easter Sunday.
This year was different.
I was seeking a lot of answers. My mind was jumbled. I was falling down the rabbit hole of comparison and I wasn't getting anything accomplished personally. I felt stuck in many areas of my life.
I had joked with a friend that maybe I'd give up sarcasm. He said I wouldn't last...He's right. I didn't. But, later when having a more serious conversation, he mentioned giving up social media.
In the back of my mind, I'd already known that's exactly what I needed to give up.
He just confirmed it for me.
Each night, I'd come home from work with goals of things I wanted to tackle, but I was too tired mentally to get them done. It was much easier to sit on the couch and scroll for a "few minutes," which turned into much longer than I care to admit.
I think I was a few days behind when I decided. But, I did it.
I deleted the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram apps from my phone. From there, I just trusted myself not to get on the sites on my desktop, laptop or iPad at work or at home.
(okay, full disclosure, there were a few moments of weakness. But, I'm talking milliseconds, people. I had to schedule out a few posts for work, but that was it. This last week I did get kind of antsy and had to look up a couple things for reference. But, there was no scrolling involved.)
The longest I'd ever gone without any social media was about a week. And that was a few years ago. I wasn't sure how I was going to do.
I have now officially survived the entire lent season without social media.
Having so much "free time," it gave me a chance to reflect, think a little clearer and spend more time investing in myself and talking to God (or rather hearing from Him) a little more.
Here's what I learned (and most that I knew already before going into this):
We make time for the things that matter.
We say we don't have time, but we do. I'd say I didn't have time to write or finish a personal project I was working on. But, I had plenty of time to read what everyone else was doing and keep up with their lives while forgetting to live my own. NO MORE OF THAT.
It literally opened my eyes to life around me.
Not being so focused on the social media sites - what my friends and colleagues were up to or where my favorite bloggers were jetting off to next, gave me more time to look around. I felt alive again, like I could actually appreciate the experiences taking place instead of being concerned about what I was going to post or what lyric I was going to caption with that picture.
It made me reach out to people more.
Instead of just waiting to see what they people were posting on social media, I reached out to more of my friends and it also made me see who actually cares enough to reach out to me when they'd seen I hadn't posted in awhile. Instead of filling my time with social media and reading blogs, I was more focused on doing activities with the people I'm closest to. It was a much better use of my time. I think not relying on social media to find out information makes you more proactive in getting to know people or finding out how those closest to you are doing.
Sometimes time away from something will bring clarity.
Sometimes we're so sucked into a situation that we can't see what our next move is or why we're in that situation in the first place. Stepping back from anything can help bring a peace and clarity. It also matters what you do with that time.
While I did notice that I was still on my phone a lot (nervous habit, I guess?), it really was a good break for me. I didn't notice that I missed it all that much, other than it's just become the norm to have it over the last few years. It gave me a chance to write more, read more or even catch up on Netflix shows that I've said I didn't have the time for.
If anything, it has definitely inspired me to take more breaks away from it in the future, but maybe just a week at a time.
That's all for now,
Shelby