by Sofia Hartman | June 13, 2021 2:00 pm
Ironically enough, my idea of having a social media free summer started when I saw a TikTok about a group of girls deleting all of their accounts for the summer at the beginning of summer 2020. At that point, the only way I had been able to communicate with any of my friends was through the use of social media. I wasn’t ready to have my main source of communication and “relevancy” stripped away from me. However, a lot has changed since then.
Like many other people, my life has changed so much over the past year. I have grown immensely, and I have realized a few key things that have greatly improved my life and the expectations I have for myself and those around me. I have realized that A) I don’t care about how people perceive me, B) people are definitely not thinking about me as much as I think they are, and C) I don’t particularly care about what other people are posting either.
Now, this isn’t to say that I don’t care about what people think about me at all. Of course, as a human being I want love and affirmation from others, but how perfect my life looks to others has consumed me for far longer than I would probably like to admit.
Our generation has it so deeply ingrained within us that “beauty” is a filter on Instagram instead of the way in which you treat another human.That is why I am making the decision to step back and truly appreciate the beauty around me- whether it be through my friends or through a sunset I watch with my family.
I know that many other people can agree that without social media, it feels like you are genuinely missing out.
I have a constant case of FOMO (fear of missing out) that has plagued my life since I got social media. Seeing that my friends are up to something fun when I am supposed to be spending time with my grandparents can have such a negative impact on my mood, even though I am spending time with people I love dearly. It’s easy to forget that people only post the funniest and best moments, and it’s so easy to compare yourself to others that we do it subconsciously.
After doing some reflection, though, I have truly realized that I won’t be missing out on too much. I am blessed to have a great group of friends that I see on a daily basis, and I know that taking this break from social media won’t affect our relationships.
Over social media, I have meaningful conversations with probably five people, all the while sending the same selfie to 40 others.
Truthfully, the hardest part about this whole thing will be filling up the time that social media and my phone had taken up. If sending a selfie takes approximately one second, based on my snap score, I have spent 115 hours of my life taking selfies.
This is extremely embarrassing to admit, but my screen time was about eight hours a day for a lot of last summer. I can’t completely blame COVID-19 for that. I am privileged to have pretty much free rein of my life, and I definitely could have spent more time being productive. I cannot justify wasting a third of my summer on a device.
Because of this change, I am also looking forward to being more present when I am spending time with my friends and family. Going into my senior year, I know I am about to have a lot of lasts with the people I hold dear to my heart, and I don’t plan on wasting any moments being on my phone.
The hardest part of doing anything you’re scared of is the jump into it. Once you make the jump, everything else will come easily, and you will thank yourself over and over for choosing yourself. This summer, I am choosing myself and choosing to live a life that I will be able to look back on and say, “I have no regrets.”
Later in July, I will do an update. Until then, catch you on the flippity flip!
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