Social Media: The new epidemic that almost ruined my vacation
Social media, has, for the past few years, become a constant part of my daily rituals. Whether it be the ‘just woke-up’ morning scroll through my FB timeline up until my ‘off-to-bed’ Instagram night-cap.
But, recently, on my trip to the Netherlands, I realised how social media has made it so easy for me to connect, yet be so disconnected. It’s made it so easy for me to share everything and yet nothing at all.
I allowed the beautiful tool of social media make me, for the very first time- quite sad! And this is why:
I realised how I’m borderline addicted to social media
Most people won’t admit how much social media means, or has meant, to them. For me, I realised how I was constantly hooked to my screen refreshing all my social media pages throughout the day! I constantly felt the need to see what’s happening online, forgetting to really see what was happening beyond that little screen- in reality!
I realised how I had forgotten what being present actually meant
At first, being present, throughout my trip, meant that I was there, got that perfectly filtered Snap and ticked it off the bucket list. But later, I realised that being present meant more than that. It meant truly experiencing that moment, without the worries of getting the perfect picture or caption but rather appreciating everything that came with the experience (good or bad) and, especially, those that I was sharing it with.
I realised my biggest question of each day was: “To social media or not to social media?”
Going abroad, my social media accounts where constantly flooding with messages of “How is your trip, it must be amazing?” and “Share photos we want to see what cool things you’ve been doing!” but I found it quite overwhelming.
I felt that if I had to share, it had to be something really amazing and truth is days spent in bed hibernating from the cold were probably not the picture worthy canal adventures everyone wanted and expected.
But, that’s the truth of it- some days were spent, in bed, binge watching ‘The Leftovers’ and some were filled with museum adventures or long boozy evenings with friends.
Social media had, in my mind, created a list of what is and is not worthy of sharing online so, instead of sticking to it, I chose not to share anything at all! This way, there was no pressure to make a lazy, boring day more than what it was. There was no pressure to prove to all my friends and followers how ‘amazing’ my trip actually was- and I loved that!
I realised that some ‘Facebook Friends’ are exactly that- just ‘friends’ on Facebook!
Being so far away from home, I had imagined and hoped that I would reconnect with countless of friends whom I had previously met and ‘stayed connected’ with online but, in reality, only a handful of those could actually wanted to give the time and effort to really reconnect in person.
This was a sad reminder about how we are so connected yet disconnected. It was a reminder about how many relationships online are not authentic or even meaningful to many of us.
I realised it made me look (enviously) at the grass on the other side, thinking it was greener
While planning my South African summer holiday, the thought of spending one-and-a-half months in the terribly cold Netherlands seemed like a great decision. One that I later questioned thanks to countless summer Instagram stories and pictures that all my friends in South Africa shared.
Grey, miserable skies and dead grass was incomparable to sunset beach selfies and cocktails- so I thought!
But, how I was wrong! Although the grass in the Netherlands wasn’t technically greener, it sure was still beautiful! The Netherlands was a different kind of beauty - one that came with misty and grey days, snowflake-selfies and gluhwein!
My two month break from posting online was a well-deserved break that my mental health needed.
It was a great time to just re-evaluate the power that social media can have on how I feel and think daily about my life.
It was a reminder about how I still have control; control over what I share and post, control over what I see and engage in and, lastly, control over my thoughts and how I spend my time!
So, I repeat, social media is a beautiful tool, but one that can easily impact your mental health, how you see your life and how you experience it. Don’t be afraid to give yourself a break-switch off and re-evaluate how it makes you feel and even the reasons why you use it!
There is already too much unhappiness in the world just flooding our newsfeeds, so let’s not let it go beyond those little screens so that we can at least enjoy just a glimpse, if not a lot, of the happiness we have in reality.
