Three years of peace
When I let go of social media, the one hesitation I had was losing connection with friends. My friendships and connections are arguably the most important thing in my life and I wondered if I was about to voluntarily sever my line to people I cared about.
Well here we are, three years later, with no Facebook or Instagram. And each year, I think I’m even more relieved and pleased than I was the year before to have cut that albatross from around my neck.
It’s not just the time suck (and ohhhh how those little apps are time sucks 👀), or even the overtly icky feeling I’d have after losing said time scrolling aimlessly…but I think I have even stronger relationships now than when I let myself fade into social media.
The “friends” I followed or interacted with online (but really ONLY online) of course faded away. It’s still odd, no matter what, to lose a connection with someone, but I realized pretty quickly that anyone I cared deeply about, I made even more of an effort to stay connected to. Texts, phone calls, snail mail, sometimes even travel to visit them. And those relationships have thrived.
Interestingly, releasing social media allowed me to focus more intentionally on the exact thing I worried I would lose.
Now I’m wondering what else I do out of habit or obligation that actually obscures the very purpose I believe it’s supposed to be serving…
