29/12/2023
Yes friends, I have been off social media for a while and only recently came back on.
Some of you have noticed and sent me messages to ask how I am going - thank you - and you’ll know that I actually am very well.
My social media hiatus was brought about around late September by the fact that I felt the highest level of disconnection with myself and with life despite, or maybe directly because of the constant relentless bombardment of posts, stories and reels, not to mention sponsored content and recommendations.
I was questioning a lot about life, about my role in it and about YOUR roles in it and in mine.
Then, I started to feel a tug on my trousers to say, “hey, let’s just go an reconnect with nature!”
Just before I took off into the sunset, I felt that I was seeing ‘the same old sh*te’ everyday on Facebook: so-and-so has got a pretty dress on and going out; someone else is at the airport going somewhere; and another person has just done a PB at a race. (Sorry, if anyone feels like I am pointing fingers, I am merely using these as examples.) All these were also and still are in parallel to *this* latest technology to help you lose weight, *that* new programme to get control of your life, and *this* other gadget give you the opportunity to be your best version of you.
A large proportion of them are hoaxes or worst, scams.
I was very happy and relieved when I packed my metaphorical bags and left Facebook.
I felt *so* uncomfortable because I know for a fact that life exists outside the screen - always has and always will. I was returning to Life!
So I came away from social media and went away - deep into nature - with my trusty canine sidekicks, of course.
Armed with a notepad, my camera and phone, we went out everyday and we took pictures; we wrote (ok, I wrote, the dogs just hunted rodents). We stopped, stood in silence and listened; we put our noses up and we sniffed. We made friends! Lots of friends! Friends who are not on Facebook! Friends who have deep, meaningful essences instead of just an online profile.
Life became rich, filthy rich - in every sense of the word!
Mid to late October came and I didn’t once feel the need to come back on social media to ‘validate my existence’. So I knew I was on the right track.
Sorry if that phrase was offensive. I don’t know how to say it otherwise. Most truths hurt, don’t they? When I realised that that was what I was doing too - validating my existence - I accepted it and I decided to shake it off and move on.
Isn’t that what many of us do? It’s like the old style office punch cards back in the 80’s or something, to check-in and check-out of work.
I thought we had come away from that practice?
Since leaving Facebook, I still do not feel the need to come back. Please be assured that I am still living the same life as I did before - running, writing, camping, paddleboarding, etc. I’ve even taken up drawing and singing! Life is going well! Actually, it’s not just ‘well’ - it is more than before, or at least it’s felt like I am doing more and having a richer, more meaningful experience.
To be honest, I love connecting with people and I love people. We are quite an amazing and crazy bunch! People are awesome! Yes, some of us enjoy connecting on social media with posts, responses and comments… I like it too, but I can’t help but feel sucked away into the social media vortex whenever I am on it.
I do miss a select group of people on social media and I promise that we will maintain contact via other means. Just for now, please know that I am making a change to the way I use social media:
I will T.H.I.N.K before I post:
About pretty much anything and everything. For anything to come on my page, they must be things I believe to be 1. True, 2. Helpful, 3, Inspiring, 4. Necessary and 5. Kind to others. I will not post anything about me - things I’ve done, seen or achieved unless they meet ALL 5 criteria.
Similarly, I will not interact with posts that do not meet ALL 5 of the above for me and the life I want to build.
I will be selective. Very selective.
Life is too short to be frivolous about these little acts of checking social media are taking us all away from actually living - of experiencing nature and this beautiful planet, of cultivating ourselves and our environment, of expressing our own creativity in everything we touch.
I have wasted a lot of time on social media before… I am glad I don’t do it anymore.
I would like to encourage all of you to go into nature too. She is a beautiful energy to immerse in!
Feel free to comment below using this simple THINK criteria, if you think it’s worthwhile (pun fully intended! 😏) If anyone wants to connect deeper/closer, I am on messenger and WhatsApp. Always happy for a chat!!
I hope that whatever ways we connect from now on, they will be full of THINK!
(I haven’t add a photo to this post because a photo will not increase the THINK-value of my words)
Love and Blessings,
Kirsten
