Yesterday it was ten days since I stopped connecting to Social Media. Ten days in a proportion of 98% without a phone, WhatsApp or other applications. Ten days of silence for an escort girl.
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What does social media mean?
Currently, 3.96 billion people use social media. If we remove from the equation minors up to 13 years old, approximately 65% of the planet’s entire population is active online.
Social media is a universe built from social networks, forums, blogs, video sharing sites, mobile applications, online games, and, more recently, the new concept called “Metaverse”. The definition of social media is related to online services because it represents a bidirectional communication that has as its final point the obtaining of profit. For companies, social media is necessary. The companies that didn’t keep up with the new revolution have disappeared, so the brand or the business you’re dealing with must shine online.
Ten days with me and for me, with those around me, present in every moment, in my reality, not in the virtual one, for which most of us have come to live, far too careful to always make the choices that to make us look as “good” as possible in the eyes of others, far too concerned with posting only those images that “say” about us that we have a perfect life. My colleagues at the Escort Agency really appreciated my idea, and some of them wanted to try for themselves.
Ten days in, I stopped and turned my attention from the outside to the inside, where everything was.
Where there are answers to any question, you have related to what you need, what you feel and what you should do. Where is the strength of each of us, the balance and above all, the love, strength and trust that you choose to live your life for yourself and not others?
I stopped taking pictures and posted at every step the frames that I thought were interesting, beautiful or special, perfect for collecting the thousands of LIKEs desired by most. I enjoyed the food without photographing it but feeling it, the sunsets so spectacular, the sea so blue and the unreal white and fine sand.
I sat for hours and looked and felt them, and it helped me feel better about myself, to know exactly what’s inside because, most of the time, we don’t have time to do it, and most of the time, we don’t even want to.
We prefer to hide from ourselves why we feel and what we want
For fear of not feeling the sadness, anger or frustration that we don’t dare to do what we want, for fear of being judged or rejected, for fear of losing the carefully created image with which we deceive ourselves so much, as well as the others.
How do I know this? Because I did it for a long time
But when you hide from yourself, deny yourself, how you are, cancel yourself lost between what you MUST do, THAT’S HOW things are DONE and ONLY NOW you can.
You think and analyze more than you feel because you are more in mind and less in the heart. If you want to understand more about this, I recommend watching the documentary The Power of The Heart on Gaia.
Did I miss being present on Social Media and seeing what others are doing?
Not even for a second. I had all the time in the world for those around me, for what I felt and experienced and especially for myself.
And I didn’t say at every step to the despair of those around me: take a picture of me too; wait, don’t eat, because I want to take a picture; or, let’s try another shot because this doesn’t look good. I guess it sounds familiar. It’s true, I don’t have as many pictures as I usually had during the holidays until now, but I had time, peace and space. Good luck to my friends, who couldn’t help themselves, so I have some beautiful pictures taken by them in the wonderful places I’ve been.
I hardly opened the Instagram application today, but with gratitude for the ten days and what I gained from them.
I understand that the addiction to the phone and especially to Instagram makes you shudder, and you can’t even imagine giving them up even for a day, especially when I remember the reactions of many a few months ago, when Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp crashed, and there was a general panic.
But as terrible as it seems, it is as good if you dare to do it. Because I have to warn you: if you use your phone and Social Media to take refuge from emotions that are hard to bear, from what you don’t like in your life, or if you get confirmation of who you are from there, it won’t be easy. I know that in my case and that of many, the phone and especially Social Media are important and help us a lot. Still, I also know that the phone is one of the most significant stress-causing factors, so there is a need for balance in the relationship with it.
I leave you a few things to help you analyze and adjust your relationship with your phone and social media:
How many hours do you spend on the phone? When do you feel like picking up the phone? How many times a day? What do you think when you see that you don’t have the number of LIKEs you want for your pictures compared to the others you follow?
How do you feel if you forget your phone or run out of battery?
If your answers to the questions above contain anxiety, agitation, nervousness, or sadness, you may be addicted to your phone. Accept that. Addictions can only be overcome if they are accepted.
Make a plan to help you reduce your time on your phone: use apps to remind you to put it down and read Digital Minimalism, written by Cal Newport.
Try Mindfulness methods – such as meditation – which can help you always to be attentive to what you do and feel about your phone.
I invite you to try to disconnect from Social Media and spend less time on the phone, at least for a few days. It can be a fascinating experiment, which I would like you to tell me about after you do it.
