Last November, I made the decision to delete all of the social media apps from my phone. I did this with the intention of eliminating all of the toxic people and things in my life.
I made this decision because I would constantly find myself refreshing my Instagram feed every 2 seconds, waiting for something new to show up. And as I reflect on it now, it was such a huge waste of time. Why did I care so much about seeing what everyone else was up to? Deleting Instagram specifically was very freeing. It had me reflecting back on a time where if you wanted to know something about someone, you had to talk to the person face to face. Constantly being on social media and posting your every life event takes away from people ever wanting to have an actual face to face conversation. There’s no point in catching up with someone when you already know everything that’s going on with them.
It took a couple of days to get used to it, but I quickly stopped constantly reaching for my phone. There was nothing left for me to mindlessly scroll through and I found myself being more present in the moment. I learned more about those around me, I had more time to think about and look after myself, and I developed an appreciation for everything around me. When December rolled around I sent personalized Christmas text messages to those closest to me rather than posting a Christmas picture on Instagram. This time free of social media allowed me to cultivate stronger relationships with those around me who actually care about me.
While I did re-download social media apps in March, the 4 months I spent off of social media were the most relaxed I had felt in years. Feeling no obligation to know everything about others or to have the most aesthetic page had me feeling less stressed and more blessed about the real relationships around me.