The Social Media Detox
My little old blog will be 6 years old this year. Six years of taking my little hobby from strength to strength. Finding my feet, and who I am whilst creating pieces of written work with accompanying images that I look back at and feel proud of. I like to think that each piece of work that I create is made with love and passion, and I think that it’s quite clear that I won’t write just for the sake of churning out post after post. Having an online life has been quite the tumultuous roller coaster over the last five years. The need to be noticed, the need to grow my following, the need for a break and to stay away from social media. It’s a funny old cycle but one that I find to be one that I want to stay away from for longer periods. Having a social media detox has started to become a welcome addition to my life. Not only does it allow me to refresh and feel re energized, it gives me time to focus on me, rather than my online persona.
2017 was a particularly hard year for me, and whilst it is firmly in the past, the memories and connotations of certain months are certainly fixed firmly in my head. 2017 was a pivotal time which has changed me immensely. I’ve never going to be the person that I was before 2017 again. Too much has happened where I have had to change. Change my mindset, my outlook on life, adjust to life as it has changed so dramatically in terms of my health, career and my family. I think it has taken it’s toll a lot more than I have let on to others, and whilst people are aware of the events that have occurred, I don’t think they understand just how much it has affected things.
When looking at how I view my blog and my social media presence now, I can see that things are different. Whilst before, I had a need for validation, a need for numerous likes on photos and to watch my following grow, it all seems have so unimportant. I would much rather take a step back and have a social media detox to see what I need. What will help me? Will I feel better for it? I know many people have fallen into the trap of getting into debt just to promote their blog and increase their following, buying designer clothes, Audis, and BMWs that they couldn’t even afford just for that imaginary validation. The truth is, you can be happy with a used Vauxhall on your driveway if you’re comfortable with yourself and can provide validation internally, rather than seek it externally.
I’ve taken many breaks over the last few months and my once frequent blogging schedule has become a sporadic, patchy affair. We are in April and my home page is still showing posts from Christmas. The old me would never have allowed this to happen, but the new 2019 me has thought ‘is it that important?’. Yes, I love my blog. It’s my escape and my time to let myself write down my thoughts and feelings on anything and everything but I would much rather sit back and watch the views grow when I’ve written a post from the heart, with meaning and feeling. Personal posts are the posts that get a lot of traction on my blog, and whilst some people would write constant personal posts ‘for the views’, it would be so easy to allow myself to fall into that trap of writing for the views, rather than writing for the love.
Although a detox is one of the most ideal plans for your mental state, it does come hand in hand with the administration side of this mini business that I have built up. Five years of working with incredible brands, having incredible opportunities and such like, it seems that as soon as you let your presence online drop, everything else drops. The emails become fewer, the parcels are less frequent, the invites are non existent. It’s now time for me to make a decision. A decision on how to create a perfect balance of sharing what I love and keeping myself present. Although for now, the detox has been exactly what I have needed, I know that deep down that it will not be forever.
What I do need to remember is that this is a hobby. This isn’t my main source of income, my career or something that I rely on to keep my fridge full. It’s time consuming, creative and sometimes stressful, yet it’s hobby. Why would I even let myself become stressed over a hobby? A social media detox has been one of the best things that I have decided to do. It’s allowed me to look at everything logically, to realise what I want going forward and most of all, to realise that it’s just fine to let it all slide in order for me to have a happy and healthy mental state.
The Social Media Detox – it’s the only detox that you need for a happy lifestyle.
