You may or may not have noticed, but a few weeks ago I kinda sorta disappeared from Instagram. I made a quick mention of it here on GML, but didn’t really explain why.
To make a long story short - I needed it. Plain and simple. It’s something I knew I should have done for…gosh, over a year. But last month I felt more strongly than ever that God was telling me to fast from Instagram. I had been asking Him for clarity and guidance in a lot of areas of my life, so when I felt like He was saying that, I didn’t hesitate to obey.
This may be a bold statement, but taking 30 days off from Instagram was truly life-changing. It may have been more for me than for most people because I work in Social Media so am on it ALL day (and yes - I still posted for the brands I work for), but it affected me more than I thought it would.
Here’s how.
I missed the community.
I didn’t realize how much a sense of community I got out of being on Instagram. It’s one of the top ways I communicate with people, so that would only make sense. Instagram has become a way I stay in touch with many people in my life, as well as people I’ve met through social media/blogging, and it was a bummer not being able to keep up with them as much.
…but I learned that it’s not entirely a real community.
The strangest part of the fast was during the first few days. This is going to sound really weird, but I felt very lonely. As I just mentioned, I didn’t realize how much I use Instagram to communicate/keep up with what’s going on in people’s lives. But the truth is that most of the time it wasn’t exactly real, genuine communication (voyeurism is probably a better word for it a lot of the time, to be honest). There’s a huge difference between observing and thinking you know what’s going on than actually spending time with people, communicating one on one, and cultivating deep/meaningful relationships.
I suddenly had a lot more time in my day.
I didn’t think that Instagram took up a lot of my day - just posting pictures here and there, mindlessly scrolling through as I do other things, etc. But apparently that all adds up. For the past 30 days I felt like I had so much more time to get things done and wasn’t in as much of a rush.
I felt more relaxed and less scatter-brained.
On that same note, my mind just felt clearer than it has in…years. It took a few days to get there (to clear out the “InstaBrain”), but eventually I remembered what it felt like to not have that urge to grab my phone every 5 minutes. Technology in general has just made everything so fast paced and…well, instant, and it was nice to experience at least a bit of a slower pace + less distraction sans Instagram.
My mind has evolved to think in pictures.
A lot of this is due to working in Social Media, but I found it hard to shake thinking of things in their Instagram form. I admittedly had become that person who thought, if there’s not a photo of it, did it really even happen? The 30 days off definitely helped free me from that, which I’m really glad about. Speaking of freeing…
It’s freeing to not have everyone know what I’m doing.
It’s kind of funny to think about how just about 10 years or so ago, no one really knew what anyone else was doing. Now you can see where your ex-coworker’s grandma is having dinner while she’s vacationing in Maine. It felt good to have a sense of privacy and be “invisible” for a few weeks.
…but I love having Instagram as an outlet.
I’m a sharer - always have been, always will be. When there’s something fun or cool or tasty or pretty, I like to tell people! And I love that Instagram allows me to do that.
I care what people think about me.
Way more than I thought I did.
…but I don’t want to (obviously).
So I’m going to nip that in the bud real fast.
I found myself doing things simply for the experience, and more deeply enjoying them.
I don’t think this is a surprising one. I already knew that my cell phone/social media was the enemy of experience, and the past 30 days just proved it more.
Same goes for enjoying company.
You know what’s better than Instagram comments, likes, Tweets, Statuses, emails, and text? Real, deep, human conversation. Laughter. Talking to strangers. Making new friends. Dancing the night away without a photo to show for it.
So…what now? Well, technically I’m back on Instagram, but I definitely want to make sure that I never forget these lessons I learned. I broke off some bad habits that I didn’t even realize existed, and I want to keep it that way.
Have you ever taken a break from Instagram/social media?
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“real, deep, human conversation.” i’m with you — this beats all, and is the essence of our lives and relationships and community building. it helps us grow as people and develop true intimacy with others and feel KNOWN. we need more of this, and it’s so hard these days. i am super guilty of the IG fad as well and have been trying to be more conscious to not be on my phone when i’m with people. this sounds like an awesome experience for you.
ps, i tried Arctic Zero again and you’re right, it’s def been re-vamped and is better! i blended with PB2 and a lil soy or almond milk and it was delish.
pps, can we puhleeeeze get a date?!
ah, yes - we have to!! I’m in and out of town pretty much until mid-Sept, but will keep you posted when I am in town
I love, love this. I feel that way about my phone in general. Time with friends is so dear, and when we have our phones out the entire time, I think we honestly loose a lot of the”moment” and connection. I think that these days, we don’t even realize we’re doing it, but when I spent a night without my phone, later, I’m so happy I did.
I’m with ya — we all need to focus less on being connected digitally and spend more time connecting interpersonally.
agreed with phones in general. My friends and I often do “phone free” hours where we have to stay off of them 😛
Back in late 2013, I felt like Facebook was really wearing on me, so I signed out of my account (I didn’t know my password, so I wouldn’t be able to log back in) and deleted the app from my phone. To this day, I think that was one of the best social media-related decisions I’ve ever made. I’m now only logged in on my laptop at home (with a total gibberish password that I can’t remember to log in anywhere else), which means I can barely ever get on. I’m SO much happier not being inundated with random photos and updates from people I once knew. The way I saw it, if I needed to know about what was going on in someone’s life, chances were if they were actually someone important to me, I’d find out some way other than Facebook. If something major DID happen (a new job, an engagement, a pregnancy announcement, whatever) and I didn’t find out, I figured that was a pretty good indication that we weren’t actually all that important to each other and it probably wasn’t all that important that I actually knew what was happening. I feel like social media gives us this false premise that we need to know the minutiae of the lives of every single person we’ve ever encountered, and that every single person we’ve ever encountered needs to know the minutiae of OUR lives, when that’s really not the case. I think my parents and grandparents survived just fine without knowing that the girl they sat next to in ninth grade biology and never spoke to again after ninth grade biology got a new job, or is pregnant, or got engaged. Some of my friends think it’s ridiculous that I’m so anti-Facebook, but it’s made me so much less judgmental of myself and where I am in life (or of others and where they are in life) that I think it’s totally worth it.
” I feel like social media gives us this false premise that we need to know the minutiae of the lives of every single person we’ve ever encountered, and that every single person we’ve ever encountered needs to know the minutiae of OUR lives, when that’s really not the case.” Very good point!
I think there are benefits and drawbacks to social media, but it really depends on the person and the relationships. I’m glad you found what works for you! I feel like one of these days I may do the same thing 😛
i couldn’t agree with ALL of these things more. i know it’s kind of lame, but i used to think i had to post every single day and now i try to take at least one day off a week and it makes a world of difference in my day/mind/time. it’s so addicting though, i’m super impressed you made it 30 days!!!
not lame - I totally understand! Instagram/social media has become such a huge part of our lives, which isn’t necessarily entirely bad - but I think it’s important to step back and ask WHY, to what extent, and how it’s effecting our lives overall.
Girl. You are fantastic
Keep it up forever and always!
It’s funny working in social media because I feel like I HAVE to be connected all the time but I know my mind (and my soul!) needs a break from it sometimes. I definitely use the do-not-disturb feature on my phone in order to take a break at night and that certainly helps. But I bet being off instagram entirely for 30 days was eye opening!
haha yes, working in social media definitely makes it more difficult 😛 I agree - setting “cut off” times is so important!
I feel like I use Instagram differently than a lot of people do - I follow primarily blogs (like yours!) and brands, using it as a filler for beautiful and inspiring content when I can’t spend a lot of time reading articles and skimming through magazines. With that being said, I do spend a LOT of time on it (basically whenever I’m bored I’m waiting for new posts) and can definitely do with a detox. This time of year is way too nice to spend your time glued to your phone!
This is awesome! I definitely agree with many of these points. I’m glad I was able to come alongside you during this (and hold you accountable!) it’s so freeing I’m debating ever going back on haha. I seriously can’t believe all the free time it creates (scary!)
Love you!
Wonder what Gods next challenge for you is?
This really has inspired me to think about doing a 30-day fast at some point before 2015 ends…I think it would be a great experience and really help me to connect back to my life on a different level. Insta is one of my favorites out there…but I know it takes up more of my days than it should!
You should definitely consider it! It opened my eyes so much I’m thinking about what I can fast next, haha
So true, insightful, and helpful! The biggest point that hit home was the fact of truly enjoying the moment you’re in - when you’re in “instagram-mode” all the time, you find yourself (or I do at least), always thinking of how to take a great pic / post out of it rather than just BEING THERE.
Social media is both a great tool and a huge curse - but it’s up to us as users to control which category we fall into. Thanks for sharing!
XO
I don’t have an Instagram account (although I do occasionally look at other people’s profiles) simply because I’m afraid of becoming addicted. Your experience made me think of me and Facebook though. And right at the moment I started considering taking a break from it, I realised how addicted I am to it as it’s my main way of communication. But I’m not giving up on the idea, I think it’d be very healthy for me if I tried it, even for a week or two. So thanks a lot for this post! x