SOCIAL MEDIA DETOX

I am currently on a mission to regulate my nervous system. I’m trying to elevate my life and entering a new and very exciting chapter of my life. I want to start it out on a positive note. In order to truly elevate my life I must eliminate stress factors, which includes: overworking myself (in my industry it is common to do this and something I am still navigating), doom scrolling/social media addiction (it’s a real thing I discovered I have it), inconsistent relationships (romantic/platonic), workout classes (lol this is a big one for me). Essentially I am being introspective and finally doing the work to become the best version of myself. I have put this off for a long time because change is scary and I was avoiding discomfort. I’m fed up and tired of existing in a constant state of anxiety. 

As I mentioned prior, I’ve got a whole list of things causing stress in my life. Most of the stress factors are within my control to eliminate, so that’s what I’m trying to do here. Today, I want to focus specifically on social media and the impact it has had on my mental health and overall well being. 

I created my first instagram account when I was 11yrs old. For 13+ years my brain has been programmed to crave social validation from people behind a screen and I have become addicted to scrolling. Social media feels like an alternate reality. For me it was definitely an escape from reality, as well as a creative outlet. 

I would say I am most dependent on Instagram for the sake of my business. My personal account has become somewhat of a highlight reel for those who I follow and the way in which I document my life is very curated. It’s not real life by any means. Most of us only show the good stuff. 

For a while my intuition has been telling me to eliminate unnecessary stress factors from my life. I couldn’t quite pinpoint my triggers and as I became more aware it was hard to ignore the fact that my social media use had become excessive. It became the ultimate distraction and time suck: scrolling aimlessly and consuming so much content rather than exercising my brain in a healthy way. 

The lines got blurred for me and I think have for so many people as well. Instagram started out as a source of creativity and inspiration to better my life. I loved curating a feed and deep down I think I had dreams and aspirations of becoming a model/influencer. As embarrassing as it is to admit that I wanted to achieve perfection. Mostly, social media has exposed me to deep rooted insecurities within myself and revealed to me that I am not secure with who I am as a person. 

I don’t like what it has done to my brain and the way it has impacted my life. First off, I have the shortest attention span because of it, which is so fucking annoying. That specifically is enough to make me quit all together. Another part of it is that I feel like subconsciously I am never fully satisfied with who I am or what I look like or what I have because I am trying to fit this unspoken and unrealistic standard set forth by society. We have taken it too far. Between depending on a weight loss drug and the goal to look and achieve perfection. I think I have finally surrendered to that that unrealistic expectation. I am not perfect and I need to accept that in order to move forward and live a happy and fulfilled life. I don’t want to depend on anything to be happy. I almost forgot that I am living my dream life. 

I find that the happiest moments of my life I hesitate to document on a social platform. I want to be able to cherish the special times without feeling any sort of pressure to show off how awesome my life is. When you’re genuinely happy and content within yourself you don’t crave external validation. So, what is the point then? 

I feel like in today’s society the majority of people are addicted to something. My addiction was mostly to instagram and sort of tiktok. The idea of deleting social media has been floating around in the back of my mind for a while now, like years actually. I was putting off putting in the work to drastically improve my life and I think I got sort of comfortable where I was at. The final push was more recently I have felt extremely depressed as a result of excessive screen time. After doing a deep dive and being super real with myself I have nothing else to blame besides social media. 

Therefore, I am giving it up. I’m officially done. Our brains weren’t designed to consume this much information or to have a sense of false sense of connection with others through a screen. I am craving realness. I miss the confidence I had before the apps corrupted my brain and convinced me that I was less than. I want to get out of my head more and really live, and not for the purpose of documenting it for public judgement. 

I have already noticed a major difference in my energy and how calm my brain feels without social media. It has been two days. I feel like the beginning of quitting any addiction is usually the hardest part, so far so good. 

My plan is to spend more time with my family and friends. I feel like I will also be more present with the people I care about most. I still have my business account where I post hair content, but that doesn’t count to me considering that its sole purpose is for my business. Unfortunately, my success is dependent on my ability to post consistently. Luckily, I don’t scroll or use it for any reason beyond that. And tiktok I don’t see myself going back on for any reason. I don’t miss it.

I’m really proud of myself for making this change. It is not the norm, but I think it is for the best. I’ll check back in 6 months to give an update. However, I don’t see myself going back.