For the past 10 days, I’ve been going to bed with my phone battery being on about 50%. Usually when I go to bed, my phone is as dead as I am. Sometimes, I would even have to charge it during the day because of how much time I would spend on social media during the day.
The past few days triggered some defense mechanism in my head where I unconsciously got off social media and kept myself away from anything that could harm my mental health that was heavily hit after my family contracted Covid. It’s like this defense mechanism in my head said “She is not strong enough now to do the best for her, I am taking over. Let’s keep her away from anything that could harm her mind.”
And that really happened. I didn’t even realize that I didn’t open Tiktok or scrolled down Instagram for days. I would only come here on my blog and go to The Poetry Bar Instagram page to publish there. That was it. During the evening, I would only have a lamp on because I wanted it to be a bit darker in my apartment, I would light up a candle, spend an hour or two in the evening reading in bed, journaling and I finally started my book.
I would read the news only because there are restrictions being implemented so I want to be updated. There’s a lot of negativity right now in the media so I am avoiding that. This also made me realize that I have a very toxic social media feed, something about it makes me either angry or depressed so as soon as I get better, I am working on changing my social media feed, blocking what and who needs to be blocked and just cultivating a more positive online experience for myself. I don’t know why I never thought about this considering how much time I spend online.
Lately, when I would go online in my free time, I would go to Youtube and watch some of my favorite youtubers who have pretty positive, fun content such as Emma Chamberlain, Alex Meyers who makes animated reviews of tv shows and movies or Joshua Weissman who cooks. Life doesn’t seem so bad when you watch someone cook mouth-watering food. I’ve also watched some old and new episodes of John Oliver. I know that his show isn’t a cheerful show that talks about rainbows and butterflies but I like his show and some of his episodes are hilarious even when discussing some serious subjects.
This is the first time that I’ve realized the impact my social media diet has on me, my health and my mind. I create content online myself, I have a blog and a Youtube channel and an IG profile – I am out there online and I love doing this but I have to rebrand my own social media feed and also think about the type of content I put out and how it affects people who interact with it. Why has it taken me so long to realize this?!
I am going to spend my evening as I’ve been spending it for the longest time – reading and drinking tea. Hope you are all having a good week!
Love,
Luna
I see my personal experience in every single word you wrote. I didn’t use social media since three month anf my phone is often off for days!
It’s cool to see that i am not so alone after all!
Hi Luna,
It’s a wonderful idea to take a break from Social Media because Social Media tends to distort reality. It can end up making us feel inadequate when we see all the happy photos of other people’s lives or the nonstop horrors that the media reports on. Truth is most of all of this is exaggeration for whatever reason. The healthiest thing we can all do is go out in nature, take a walk and listen to the birds singing, and enjoy the sunshine on our skin. Too often I see people with headphones on and with their heads bent toward an I-phone screen and their fingers busily tapping away. They miss out on the beauty of this lovely earth. I let myself have about an hour and a half catching up with my local news, reading Word Press, or checking out a YouTube video I might like, then I turn it off. Moderation is the key; also, not taking all the Social Media things we see seriously. Sometimes, I just go a few days without any of it. Reading a book and drinking tea is a wonderful thing to do.
Have a beautiful day!
Hi Lina
Love your blog , they are very encouraging to read , I’m new to blogging, I’m in Northern Ireland , hope your well..
Kindest Regards
Harry x
Right now I’m doing everything I can to encourage my kids to avoid spending too much time on social media, and on their phones. But the fight is not won in advance. Thanks for sharing your experience…
Nice