Walking the Line Between Love And Hate For Social Media
The Social Media Conundrum
As a blogger, I am constantly walking the line between love and hate for social media. I mentioned to a friend that I deleted the Twitter and Facebook apps from my phone at the start of 2017. And her first question to me was, “But aren’t you a blogger, how does that work?”
It’s been working just fine, thankyouverymuch. For me, being constantly connected all the time, was draining. I truly feel blessed to be living in this information age, but damn! I crave simpler interactions, where I can focus on the person and conversation at hand. And where we don’t look at our phones all the time.
If I’m out with friends, I want to give them my undivided attention because time is precious. And if in this busy world we now live in, with all it’s distraction someone chooses to spend their limited time with you, I feel like we need to honour that.
Don’t get me wrong, social media has it’s place. But this constant checking our various timelines and refreshing your feed over and over…no matter the cost to your pocket – hello data? – or your peace of mind data is concerning. What are we so afraid of missing out on?
The solution
For me, it started with prioritizing my unplugged time. I started with some pretty drastic measures, not only did I delete the apps from my phone, but an hour before I went to bed I would put my phone on airplane mode. Then I wouldn’t switch it back until I was well on the way to work.
Drastic, but it worked. My mornings felt much easier and I got a proper handle on my day before I got bombarded by news, morning posts and memes. Eventually I got in the habit of disconnecting before bedtime and I didn’t need to put my phone on airplane mode.
I still walk the line between love and hate for social media, only now I’m better at taking care of myself. I know when to disconnect, unfollow and unfriend. And as for FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) – I got over that a loooong time ago.
Has this ever happened to you? Do you feel drained being so connected all the time? Have you ever taken a break from social media? Feel free to leave a comment below.
A Note To My Future Self
This is my first Five Minute Friday link up since 2014! I cannot believe that it has been so long! AAAAAHHH I feel blessed to rejoin this group of writers. This week I’m going write a note to my future self.
You can join in too. The rules are pretty simple – write for 5 minutes on the word prompt for the week and post to your blog, then add your post to the linky party over at the Five Minute Friday community.
GO
Hey Future Self, it’s me, your younger, less hot self! I’m sending you lots of love.
I know that the decisions I make today are leading me towards you and while sometimes I cannot see things clearly, my track record thus far has been pretty great. Whatever it is, whatever it looks like, no matter how bad it gets, YOU GOT THIS.
Every day that I wake up, I try to be mindful that you, the future me, depends on who I decide to be today, in this moment. And the woman I am today, decides to make the most of her time here, with what she has, right where she is, exactly as she it. Because that is always enough.
I hope I make you proud.
STOP
After I wrote this post I did a quick Google search and found this amazing website that makes it super easy to write a note to your future self. Feel free to check it out here.
My Very Own 30-Day Challenge: The One Where I Start Again
Has it really been four whole months?
My last post in this space I was happily celebrating my half-birthday. Quick update, I’ve celebrated two of my friends’ half-birthdays since and I believe that this is something that will catch on. But I digress. Let’s talk about starting again and this being the first day of my very own 30-Day “blogging” challenge.
Back in 2011 Max Cutts gave a brilliant TED Talk on the benefits of trying something for 30 days. It’s well worth the 3-minute watch.
GETTING STARTED
While blogging every day for a whole month is really not “trying something new” for me. I feel like I’ve been away for so long that it might as well qualify as an experiment in stick-to-it-tiveness. Which is a much needed habit to cultivate and 30 days “is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit” to my life.
So I’m starting again today. I haven’t created any daily prompts and this might come back to bite me on the ass during this 30-day journey. But the great thing is for the most part I have a clear idea of how the blog space will be filled, and I have written down the general content I want to publish over the course of the next four weeks.
I have have also decided that this experiment will extend to Instagram and as you can see from today’s post, June is off to a fantastic start!
What isn’t in this photo however, is that this was my second attempt. My first try exploded all over my kitchen counter, my belly and thighs. It was a painful reminder that you shouldn’t attempt to make you morning coffee before you’ve actually had your morning coffee.
So here’s to starting again. Here’s to taking small steps, doing something I love – writing – and at the end of this experiment, let’s hope that these changes stick!
Have you ever tried a 30-Day Challenge? What was the outcome? Or will you be trying a 30-day challenge this month as well?Please feel free to share below!
#BlogHer16 starts today and I’m missing out
#BlogHer16 officially gets going today in LA and I am missing out. It’s not from a lack of trying though – my ticket was bought early, hotel booked around the same time. As soon as flights opened up I secured mine. I was ready!
And then life happened and plans changed. And I’m here watching all the conference updates trying to be happy for all those bloggers out in LA about to have the conference of their lives when all I really want to do is be there enjoying the experience with them.
I’m consoling myself by trolling Instagram knowing that it would never be the same as being there and that there are quite a few things I’m going to miss. #BlogHer15 was my first everything in blogging conferences and I was fortunate to be attending with two other bloggers from my island in the sun.
We connected through our blogs months before and travelling, attending the conference and living together for a few days, not only sealed our friendship in blogging but moved it beyond that as well. I will be forever grateful for that.
This year I planned to attend by myself and while I knew I would miss my friends, I was extremely excited to navigate the conference no longer a newbie but still very much new to blogging conferences and it definitely would have been my first time in LA.
What I will miss
I will miss the energy. If you’ve been to a BlogHer conference you know what I’m talking about. The air is alive with hope, love, excitement and just enough fear of the unknown that if it were a alive it would probably look like a unicorn…it’s that’s amazing.
I will miss the opportunities for learning. Not just the sessions – if you choose the right ones for you and where you are at with your blogging journey it can definitely make a difference. I will miss the meet-ups, the random coffees and the in-the-hallway-chats. That’s how I met Tiffany of the The Mrs. Tee, through a random call for a dinner date. Tiffany is a VOTY honoree this year! Congratulations to her.
I will miss the opportunity to explore a new city. I think what made my conference experience so great last year, was that I saw NYC with two friends. While, I wasn’t new to the city it was my first time getting to show other people some of my favourite spots and it was just so cool. We had fun.
Some tips and lessons
A tip for those considering attending a blogging conference is to get there a day or two before and get to know the city you’re in. It’s a also a priceless opportunity to connect with bloggers BEFORE the start of the conference, especially for newbies.
You will meet your favourite bloggers and they will turn out to be normal people. You will have blogger groupie moments. And it will be amazing. Yup. That happened and I went over and introduced myself and it was like I said…amazing.
My biggest lesson was letting go of my expectations and surrendering to the experience. The best things happen when you least expect it. This is how I met and connected with a blogger I admire. We had just boarded the bus to head to the closing party. I was sitting in the front because we were the first ones on. Behind me, sat Elan…I could not believe it. She wrote this post and it really resonated with me. It’s one thing to leave a comment on a blog post but to meet the writer and express exactly how much what she wrote echoed your own feelings and fears. That was truly priceless. And it happened on the bus, on the way to the closing party.
After, after party #BlogHer15
You will find your tribe. BlogHer offers this unique opportunity to connect with women and men who are your brand of crazy or normal. Same difference. Like my call for other Caribbean and international attendees to meet up in the hotel lobby after the closing party at last year! That turned into the best lime this Trini could have asked for. 2 Jamaicans, 1 Bahamian, 1 Bajan and 3 Trinis and 2 honorary Trinis. We had fun!
I’m gonna miss all the swag! I kid you not, BlogHer has the best swag and you have to be smart about packing before you get there, or you will need an extra bag for the stuff you get over the course of just 3 days.
Self-care while at the conference is important. I had a mini implosion which lead to an explosion in my room by the Friday afternoon of #BlogHer15. You need to take regular breaks. Please don’t be like me. You cannot do all the things. Because there is just too much to.do.see.experience. Breathe. Go for a walk. Skip a talk. It’s okay.
Oh that reminds me re-entry is a thing. And I am definitely NOT going to miss that. Life after a BlogHer conference can be difficult to assimilate. I went back to work on the Monday after #BlogHer15 and by the Wednesday I crashed and burned. Hard. It was too much. My brain needed the break to just get all the ideas and connections out without the distraction of work.
Great things happen when women and men support each other. And that was been my best experience at #BlogHer15 and what I was hopeful for this year. Ah well. #BlogHerFood16 is in Austin *fingerscrossed* that’s where I’ll be headed in October – hopeful but mindful.
I’m going back to stalking Instagram for #BlogHer16 updates.
Now I want to hear from you. Have you been to a BlogHer conference or blogging conference before? What was your experience like? Do you plan to attend a conference in the future?