Social Media Break

I took a spontaneous social media break on March 1st through today (June 21, 2024). I wasn’t sure exactly why I wanted to abstain, but once I did, I started to notice some changes within myself. My own thoughts and feelings became clearer to me and my intuition sharpened up even more than usual. It was a relief not to get lost in a turbulent sea of constant bombardment, with so many ideas, products, personalities and opinions rapidly firing at me like an automatic tennis ball machine set on high.

Things I realized:

I will not be able to change anyone else’s mind about politics and religion, and they certainly will not change mine!

I can still care about people in my life with different political and religious views, but it makes it harder to relate, as the stakes are pretty high, currently.

The personal is political, and sometimes it’s okay to step back and rest so I will have more energy at a later time. Even though I cannot change anyone else’s mind, the things that matter to me are worth fighting for, and social media can be utilized as a tool for change in the “real world”, even if it’s a small change…every little bit helps.

Media literacy should be taught to children early; before they get their first cell phone or venture online.

Some people notice when you’re not around, and some don’t (as in “real life”). Just as life is for the living, the algorithms are for the social media…the wheels keep spinning whether you’re on or off the ride.

“Real life” is more nuanced than screen life; you can explore it with all your senses, including your sixth sense.

I want to be creative because it feels good; art for art’s sake!

AI poetry stinks like a hollowed-out rotting pumpkin shell left on the curb for overdue trash pick-up…you can smell it a mile away.

I don’t want to sell anything, and I don’t want to buy anything; especially supplements from grifters.

I don’t want to sell myself, or buy anyone else, especially online grifters.

I don’t want to be “friends” with fake profiles (which also smell like hollowed-out rotting pumpkin shells).

Just as there is no place like home, I prefer being inside my own head more than being inside other people’s heads.

Dancing to music I love is a great way to get out of my own head; so is Yoga, meditation, playing the piano, writing poetry, and being creative on a daily basis.

Someone is always dying, and someone is always being born…it’s hard to keep up.

I don’t remember everyone’s birthday, and that’s okay.

Not everyone remembers my birthday, and that’s okay.

A little mystery is a good thing, generally speaking.

I fell in love with reading books again.

I went on a road-trip through California, Oregon, and Washington, spent time with family and friends, went to dinner parties and brunches, and didn’t photograph everything I did.

I ate delicious meals without photographing them.

Even though there is little documentation to prove otherwise, I still exist.

Some people may question whether I still actually exist.

Some relationships have a season…not every one needs to be maintained over a lifetime.

It’s okay to love some people from a distance; sometimes that’s the healthiest choice.

Synchronicity is real.

When I cut out all the noise, I can hear myself better: what I like, what I want, who I want to spend time with, what feels good, what doesn’t feel good.

Saying “no” is exhilarating; it feels like ditching high-school and spending the day at the beach.

I love visual imagery, and miss having some laughs and connecting with some people I don’t see in “real life” that often.

Being away from social media has felt like romping in a Spring meadow filled with butterflies, bunnies, and blooms…I feel myself dragging my feet as I come back.

Everyone is living in their own reality, seeing things from their own perspective.

We are simultaneously a collective school of fish in a vast internet ocean.

I’m grateful that my formative years were not lived online, because online didn’t exist.

Selfies bug me…they always have.

TikTok gives me a headache…like brain-freeze from eating Otter Pops too quickly.

I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.

Arguing with Ted Nugent fans is pointless; I have proven this to myself repeatedly.

Some people understand me better than others, online and in “real life”.

I understand some people better than others, online and in “real life”.

It’s okay to do social media really badly, scrappily, or not at all, although it’s a great place to find Twin Peaks memes, and this is very important to me.

I’m not fooling anyone, least of all myself.

You’re not fooling anyone either, though possibly fooling yourself.

None of this actually matters when all is said and done, so just keep scrolling. Or don’t.