Let me start by saying I did not give up social media because I couldn’t leave my phone alone or that I needed to “cleanse” my daily routine, but rather I saw myself putting more time and effort into posting and keeping up with everyone’s lives that I truly would forget to live in the present at times. I was tired of knowing exactly how everyone’s vacation was or what friends they saw over the weekend, while also comparing my happy days with theirs.
Social media is a great way to keep in touch with friends and share your interests, but at the same time I felt like I was just posting to show everyone that I was having fun, too. This is what made me decide that I needed a break and that I should take a break just to distance myself. I didn’t mean for my break to be for a whole year and I didn’t think I would end up deleting Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram in the process.
What I learned was that after a couple weeks on my “break,” I was reactivating my accounts for thirty minutes here and there. While it was difficult to let go completely, it was a lot easier to just live my life happy and not be worrying about the people who follow me thinking I was boring because I had not posted in two weeks.
After a year of not having social media, I decided to reactivate or start new accounts for social media so I could start off on a clean slate. And now that I have had my accounts back for a little over six months, it’s great to be reconnected! I realized that my concern is not with posting anymore or how many likes one of my photos get, but rather I’m using it to connect with friends and show them how much I love spending time with them when I post a picture.
I’d much rather spend time in the moment and if its long enough, snap a pic or two, but I don’t need to take fifty pictures to get the right angle. Sometimes the media can be so intimidating and you see yourself worrying about people having fun while you’re at home watching Netflix, but the break made me realize it’s totally fine to have those lazy days. You don’t need to update the world every single minute, but its also fun to post a video of your friend doing something stupid. Having a balance is the real key to having social media where you can really enjoy other people’s pictures, and also love posting your own!
Now that I’m back, I post a picture for me, which allows me to appreciate the moments I spend with friends or in a beautiful place! Enjoy your vacations and share your picture, but don’t fret about what you are not doing when someone else is having fun. You are living your best life and do it to make YOUR life colorful!