It was a few years ago while going through some holiday pictures that I first became aware of the constant presence of my phone in my hand. It was there, religiously in every single picture, including the ones in the sea! Was I really that obsessed? Apparently so.
It wasn't however until later on, when I had kids, that I realized that this irrational behavior was actually taking away my awareness and focus from what was really important. So, in an attempt to become more present, I shut down all of my social media accounts and started the detoxing. Calling it challenging is an understatement. It was extremely difficult. I felt totally cut off from the world around me and everywhere I turned people were texting, taking selfies and posting them, chatting, following and so on
But not long into the experiment, something started to change inside me. I started to realize that the more I was letting go, the more aware I was becoming. Aware of my surroundings and most important of myself and the real reasons behind the increasing need of social media.
Have you ever asked yourself why it seems so important to share our lives with not just family and close friends but everyone else out there?
Could it be that maybe we are just so desperate for attention that we are prepared to get it at all costs? That we are looking for a way to feel good about ourselves? To be ‘cool,' accepted?
And why are we suddenly so interest in what everyone else is doing? Do we follow peoples lives without any judgment? I think not.
Think about it: how does it make you feel when you see ‘your friends’ happy and living a life you don't seem to get for yourself? Or perhaps your ex marrying someone when you are still out there feeling the chances of finding that perfect person are getting slimmer by the day?
Or your ‘best friend’ showing his/her perfect body when you can’t even get yourself to wear a bathing suit?
I could be very wrong of course, but experience tells me that unfortunately I am not far from reality.
Don’t take me wrong, being connected is not the issue here, far from it. The intention behind it and the amount of time spent feeding this obsession are the real problem.
So here is my question — is it really worth our attention and devotion?
Is it worth missing out on life, the real life, the one that happens away from the screen? Is it worth getting upset or worked up about? Or surround ourselves with feelings of jealousy, envy, pity and constant judgment?
In a world where everything moves too fast and we simply are incapable of waiting for anything, isn’t it fair to say that maybe we need to take a little time to disconnect from everything out there and reconnect whitin? Time to be still, time to be present, to just be.