I hit the RESET BUTTON by taking a week off social media while also grounding myself back at home after a few months of going non-stop + picking up steam on mindless habits along the way.
Here's what I did:
> DELETED all social media Apps from my phone for one week.
> SPENT TIME reading, meditating, hanging around the city, BEING OUTDOORS.
And here's what I'm feelin' from that short yet VERY effective break:
> LESS ATTACHED to this rectangle I carry around. I realized that typically the first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone. And check. And scroll. And throughout the day, this habitual, what feels almost addictive and compulsive act, continues. Check. Scroll. Check. Scroll. I needed to BREAK THAT HABIT and tune into see if I was using it as a deeper means of avoidance and distraction.
> The answer is YES. Some of the time at least. As I had time to dive deeper into my current Mindfulness read, I related words my eyes skimmed to experiences my mind could relate to. I became MORE AWARE that I often pick up my phone to distract myself from anything unpleasant- anxious thoughts, a worry, boredom, a fleeting fear, etc.
> OVER trying to 'keep up with the social-media-joneses.' YES this is a big one because YES it be would SUPER rad to get paid and sponsored to travel the world teaching yoga with all the free yoga clothes and a photographer and to be 6 feet tall with flawless skin and a ripped bod but DAMN it's time to stop reaching, wishing, crazily hashtagging, comparing, FOMO-ing, come back down to Earth, and start LIVIN THIS RAD LIFE I was given because gosh I'm lucky to be who I am, with what, and who I have, doing what I do, wherever I am. AND ALSO, there's no such thing as PICTURE PERFECT, it simply doesn't exist. PIXELS can only portray so much.
> And with a mind, body, and heart full of a week of unplugged reflection, all in all I FEEL REFRESHED . And ready to come back to my purpose with social media- to simply be connected, to share, to give and receive inspiration. It's all about finding that sweet BALANCE. I missed the connection and community and being connected is part of me, and my job, so plugging back in I go. BUT I intend to limit my time on my phone going forward, and to be more mindful of my habits, of when and why I am picking up my phone to scroll, and exactly what it is that I'm choosing to consume. MORE MINDFUL, LESS HABITUAL, and a MORE AUTHENTICALLY ROOTED PURPOSE here to just simply write, share, receive, be me.
