Disconnecting

Last week, I took an entire week off and disconnected from my blog and all things social media.  I only stayed connected to the Pho3nix Health Facebook Page and MEJ Photography Facebook Page.  The reason being, is they are both part of my job.  Anywho, I disconnected from aimlessly scrolling through Instagram and Facebook.

As a millennial, it is very common for us to be constantly glued to our phones, and living through our phones, pictures, and videos, instead of living in the moment. Not everything has to be documented, however, we feel a need to document everything.  Don’t get me wrong, pictures are great, but sometimes, just having memories of something is even more special.  I never considered myself a full blown millennial (I’m one of the older ones, who remembers what it was like pre internet) until I saw my social media usage.

What is social media giving me in return?  A little giggle here and there, and anger at the site of all the arguments between friends.  I also noticed that I started to compare myself to other beautiful people on Instagram/Facebook.  I started to get discouraged, and really beat myself up over not being as successful as someone who started a blog 6 months ago.  Checking my unfollower app every second I had a chance, to make sure to unfollow everyone who unfollows me, became routine.  My fiancé pointed out my unhealthy addiction to life on the interwebs.  Which is why I decided to disconnect.

Pre-Instant Gratification

As an older millennial, I remember what life was like pre instant gratification.  I remember not having a cell phone.  The sound of dial up internet is forever embedded in my brain.  I remember when MTV was ACTUALLY music television, and if you wanted to hear a song, you had to actually wait for it to come on.  I remember what it means when you have a pencil and cassette tape, or rewinding a VHS to laugh at a favorite part.

The problem with a lot of the younger generations is they don’t know what it’s like to have to wait a month for your favorite magazine to come out, or how going to the library to do research was actually a thing.  Does the younger generation even know what the Dewey Decimal System is?  We didn’t have a camera (aka smartphone) on us 24/7 to document all of our memories, or social media to tell everyone else about our awesome night.  If your computer didn’t crash 5 million times because of Limewire, then you’re way too young for me haha!  Remember when you had to actually physically use a map instead of GPS, and then Mapquest came out?!

Even as a blogger, I honestly kind of miss those times.  I miss not worrying about how many likes my photo got, or wondering how I can get more likes to build my audience.  It’s honestly exhausting AF!  For today’s post, I wanted to talk about the importance of disconnecting from the internet and social media every once in a while.

Remembering Simpler Times

Disconnecting brought me back to a bit of a simpler life.  I didn’t worry about things that don’t matter like how many likes my photo got, or how many comments my blog post got.  If you are a full time blogger these things really do matter, and your paycheck is dependent on that, but you are allowed to take a break.  I remembered what life was like without hashtags.

Experiencing the Moment

Even though I didn’t do anything really exciting, I was able to just live in the moment.  I didn’t document my every move and upload it onto social media.  I didn’t talk about my favorite makeup or how funny life is with my fiancé.  Paying attention to the world around me, helped me to enjoy life more.

More Time Spent with Loved Ones

My fiancé was really excited when I first told him I was taking a full break from social media.  He actually didn’t believe me when I said I would do it.  He had no faith in me being able to disconnect.  It was not only the best week of mine, but it was the best week of my fiance’s life haha!  I actually spent time with my fiancé instead of uploading Life With Joe on Instastories.

You Can Actually Try New Things

Trying new things can be exciting and scary all at the same time.  However, when you disconnect, you can actually enjoy them whole heartedly.

It’s Refreshing

It’s nice to not have a care in the world.  Being able to leave my phone on the counter and not check Instagram was really nice.  I almost felt like I was able to reboot.  Over the past year, I have felt like my body kept blue screening like a computer who’s finally had enough.  This break was like CC Cleaner fixing my computer and letting me live normally again.

In Conclusion

I highly recommend a disconnect like this for everyone.  We’ve become accustomed to a certain lifestyle of instant gratification, and living through a screen that I think more people need to go out and actually experience life.  Focus on the things that matter the most in life.  Even if you just set ground rules that if you’re sitting at the dinner table, or going out for date night, there should be no phones allowed.

I understand that some people will argue and say that can’t do that due to their jobs/businesses, but I think you can step away from your phone for at least 1-2 hours every day.  If your boss is going to yell at you for not answering an email, because you were sitting down to dinner with your spouse and children, then I think you need to find a new job.  No employer should tell you what to do with your time at home, no matter what the salary is.  If you run your own business, even though that’s different, you should still do the same thing.  It can wait.  Your children will grow up faster than you think and before you know it, you can’t remember being there for their childhood, and you don’t even remember them growing up.

For our mental health, I do believe it’s also important to disconnect.  Can you imagine what a person does to themselves mentally when they are comparing themselves or their lives to someone else 24/7?  It’s not healthy.  Justifying your importance in this world based on the amount of likes a photo gets is not fair to yourself.

This is why I do think it’s healthy to disconnect from the cyber world every once in a while.

xoxo Monica

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