Fasting for Singers
I apologize for the excessive time lapse between blog posts. I intended to keep up with my weekly writing, and to be honest, I have no idea what happened. I recently read the book “Atomic Habits” and the author mentions “never skip a habit twice” and well… I skipped twice and boy did that escalate. So here we are, working on getting back into the swing of things. Let’s reset the counter and mark this as our new “day 1”. Welcome back to my blog.
This year for lent I decided I would give up social media. It was a very simply decision, though it was not easy. I was literally sitting at family dinner with my brother discussing what we should give up for lent, all the while I was mindlessly scrolling through my instagram feed mid conversation. As soon as the words came out of my mouth and echoed through the room I knew instantly that I needed to quit social media. Immediately following I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew it was something I didn’t really want to do. I labeled this blog “Fasting for Singers” but really it’s just going to be a telling of my experience of fasting from social media.
Nothing really changed about my lifestyle when I first deleted my social media apps on my phone. I still got up at the same time each day, walked Max, ate breakfast, and logged into work. I thought the time I used to spend scrolling on my phone or creating instagram posts would be channeled into more productive actives like reading and singing. I did read a bit more and sing a little more as well, but mostly the time I was saving from social media turned into me playing more video games. I didn’t feel bad about it, and I still don’t. Most of the time, at the end of the day I would be too mentally tired to pick up a book or dive into music so I used video games or TV shows as a way to relax and unwind.
What I really want to get into is discussing how social media makes you feel lonely. Now, I’ve read some articles and listened to podcasts on the topic. I had reflected a lot on this for myself and never thought it actually applied to me. I didn’t feel lonely being on social media. I didn’t feel envious of other’s lifestyles or feel like I had to put up a facade to show the social media world. However, when I left social media completely I realized how alone I truly was. I didn't have access to people at the touch of a button (or touch screen really) anymore. If I wanted to contact someone I had better have their number or know where to find them in person. The longer I went without social media the more I felt cut off from the world and isolated. It was really tough on me. Still, it was the best thing for me. Since I couldn’t reach out to friends through social media I had to go find them. About half way through lent I was attending a national weightlifting meet in PA. Usually I would have touched base with some friends through social media ahead of time or while I was at the event but since I couldn’t do that I had to be able to find my friends at the meet. It was really wonderful because I couldn’t hide behind my rectangular hand device (a.k.a. my phone). I had to walk up to people and strike up a conversation with them. A skill I had let fall by the wayside to rust. Two nights in a row I went out with a variety of friends that I otherwise wouldn’t have gone out with. At other events I spent my evenings completely isolated yet I would be chatting with friends through my social media apps. I didn’t realize how lonely I had become. I was missing in-person interactions for so long,
When I finished up my time fasting from social media I joined a gym, went out with friends, bought a membership to the movie theaters (yes, that’s a thing!) and started attending my church’s coffee hour after Sunday service. These seem like completely normal things every human probably already does, but honestly, I didn’t realize how much I had been missing out simply because I was allowing social media take the role of “friendship”.
Now that I’m back participating on the inter-webs I hope I can keep up with my new habits and my new in-person relationships. I plan to let social media ENHANCE my connections, not hinder them. I’ll keep you posted.
-Laura
