My friend has decided to come off social media. He’s returning to the old-fashioned text, emails, and most importantly, talking to people. I know this because he has posted about it on social media so that we all know what is happening and how to communicate with him in the future.
I am intrigued and inspired by his bold actions. Interesting isn’t it, how I am finding something as seemingly simple as giving up social media as bold?
And it has made me think about how often I use social media and whether it really is that good for me. And the conclusion is, I’m not convinced that I am in control of social media and the impact it has on my life.
So, why is that you may ask?
Well, instead of writing a book or a content-rich article that can convey nuances, and depth and educate myself and others, I find myself writing this short post.
Instead of looking at the beauty of my home, my life, my family, and my friends, I find myself looking at the beauty of others’ lives, filtered and edited to make sure it appears so and transporting me to a world of comparison, need, and greed.
Instead of educating my mind with wisdom, profound works of literature, or intriguing knowledge, I find myself speed-reading posts, often written by an ego rather than a soul, looking to make a transaction with me, not a genuine connection.
Instead of emptying my mind in order to get through the complex to the simple, to create space for new thoughts, new knowledge, and new insights, I add more clutter creating more mayhem and confusion and the optical illusion of choice, when it is, in fact, the overwhelming array of choice that is rendering me unable to make a choice – quite a paradox.
And instead of looking up and seeing the world around me, I find myself looking down into a virtual reality where nothing is really as it seems and everything is telling me to be, do, and have more, rather than to find peace with where I am and make the very most of what I have in the here and now.
So, my friends’ actions and his posts telling us of the rationale behind it, have made me think long and hard about my relationship with social media and the real impact it has on my life.
Now, I do not know whether I can, or indeed want to go as far as completely giving up social media, but it would seem to me, that simply giving ourselves permission to consider whether it is necessary, adding value to our day, or bringing genuine joy and connection to our life, is a hugely important thing to do.
Because we always seem to assume that the answer is in a decision, when it is, in fact, to be found in the question, which we may not always truly understand, or find too uncomfortable to consider.
So, I do think we need to focus on understanding the real questions we are faced with in life and then have the courage to step into the discomfort of considering what our answers might be.
I think we might be pleasantly surprised with the answers.
And as for social media, my jury is still out.
With love
Nik x
