Monday marked the start of 30 days without social media. I have done this every so often over the years as a way to commit to reconnecting with people on a more personal level. It all started when I was watching the movie "When Harry Met Sally" and there was a scene where Harry and Sally were talking on the phone to each other. The screen was split so you could see both Harry and Sally, and something about the way their faces filled the whole screen struck a cord with me. I looked at those old land-line phones and it brought me back to the feeling when I was in middle school of hiding in my closet with the phone cord stretched as far as it could go so the coils were straightened. At the time, it felt like the conversation I was having was the most important thing in the world. I tried to remember the last time I'd had that feeling... that the person I was talking to was getting my undivided attention and there was no place in the world more important than right here, right now. It seems like when I am eating family dinner, I am still thinking about all the chores I need to get done before I go to bed. When I'm out with friends, I have mom guilt for not spending that free time with my daughter. When I'm at work, I have a to-do list that is a mile long and approximately 47 tabs open in my internet browser of tasks that need completing. As our world has gotten more digital, we are able to Google "whales singing underwater" or "Cambodian temples" and immediately find videos that immerse us in other worlds. I have tons of resources at my fingertips to support my daughter with her science fair project, become a better gardener, or learn to play the oboe. And that is AMAZING! But the downside of this is that we don't often have the opportunity to give anyone or anything our undivided attention. Will this 30 day social media detox fix that? Not really. But I still like that I am setting the intention to make time for coffee with friends, dinner with our neighbors, or a phone call with my BFF from college who lives across the country. It makes me feel like I am being more thoughtful about how I spend my time, and that little bit of mindfulness may trickle over into other areas of my life.
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