One Week Social Media Freeeee

I’ve been off social media for a week and I have to tell you…if you can’t take an actual vacation to somewhere warm with good food and sunsets, take a social media vacation, crank your heat, order some takeout, and watch a movie set in Italy. You’ll feel just as good.

The first two days were hard. I kept wanting to look at my feeds, but instead, I worked on updating my website (that’s been on my To Do List for two years), worked on my next book, read some magazines, and watched THE STRAIN. My phone has stopped constantly chirping with notifications and it’s amazing how more relaxed I am.

I’ve thought of an occasional tweet or something I wanted to say, and I’ve wondered what the world is up to. But for the most part, I’m enjoying this quiet space. It’s different taking a break from social media when you’re at home as opposed to when you’re on vacation. When you’re on vacation, you’re already in a new routine, so it’s easy to shake. But when you take a break while you’re at home, the space you filled with scrolling is now empty.

It's so lovely.

I’m learning, though, that I don’t think I need to go completely social media free. I don’t think I can with a new book coming out and marketing myself as a narrator. And I really do enjoy posting things and commenting on others’ posts. What I feel shifting, maybe, is my relationship to it. I don’t have to scroll constantly. I don’t have to post constantly. Maybe I can do it in a more manageable and targeted way.

I’ve got one more week of enjoying this self-imposed social media isolation. I’m going to continue to work on my writing and enjoy how quiet things are.

In a week, I’m hoping when I post and comment, I’ll do so a little more mindfully and choose the things that are really important.

At the very least, I’ve realized that even without the likes and the notifications and the hearts and the comments, I still exist. I’m still here. And my friends are still texting me and emailing me. Staying connected feels really good. Staying connected in a meaningful way feels even better. Fingers crossed I can keep feeding that.