In today’s day and age, you can’t really live without social media— or can you?
A little over three months ago, I was in a pretty rough place. I was feeling all sorts of emotions like betrayal, sadness, loneliness, depression, anger, anxiety… you get the picture.
When I finally went home for the summer, I knew I had to do something pretty drastic in order to get back on the right track.
I need to isolate myself from the things that are making me upset, I thought to myself.
I realized that focusing way too much on other people’s seemingly perfect lives, rather than working on bettering my life was making me upset.I was so fixated on what others were doing rather than what I was doing. So my drastic change was to go two weeks without social media, since that was the way I was keeping up with other’s lives. To keep myself accountable, I put the deadline in my journal. I was determined to stop this unhealthy obsession. And so I began.
I know what you’re all dying to ask: Was it hard? The answer? Absolutely not.
In fact, not having social media in my life was probably one of the easiests things I’ve ever done. What once was a two week deadline turned into three months of no social media. I’ll be honest and say that there were a select few times where I would type Twitter into my laptop, look at the first two tweets on my timeline, but then I would slap myself on my wrist and shut down the laptop. I wasn’t ashamed that I had some moments of weakness; I was more proud of myself for realizing my mistake and fixing it immediately. We’re all human, and we make mistakes, but it’s how we react to those mistakes that truly define who we are.
You may be thinking, So what did you do all that time?
I did a lot. I got a summer job where I met some great friends. I rediscovered my passion for reading, so I read voraciously this summer. I learned how to crochet some pretty fantastic headbands, if I do say so myself. I started thinking about my future after I graduate from college. I was the lead role in an indie film.
It’s crazy how one tiny decision can create a ripple of change in one’s live. By giving up social media, I got to focus so much more on other aspects in my life that I wasn’t focusing on at all.
Probably the most important thing that came out of this experience for me was that I learned that I need to love myself better. Whether it be through making more me-time for myself or making sure I’m keeping up with hobbies that I’m passionate about, to making sure I’m not comparing my life to others. I can’t control others and what they do (whether it be to me or just in general), but I can control what I can do with my life, and I want to live a great, full, happy life, and I am.
I returned to social media and I’m no longer worried about the number of likes I get, or how skinny that one girl is, or how much more successful that person is. I’m just going to appreciate social media for what it is, and that’s it. I’m not going to let such a small thing have such a heavy weight on me any longer.
So my advice to anyone who is feeling overwhelmed with the pressures of social media is to just let go. Do a social media cleanse whether it be a two days, one week, or even a three month break. Just delete the apps, get away from it, and focus on yourself.
Trust me when I say that a social media break can do wonders for a person.
HCXOXO,
Kelli