Leaving social media is like leaving a toxic relationship you thought you couldn't live without
Only to find out
Hi there,
And nobody ever said, “Man, I wish I stayed a bit longer, wasted even more time.” Life is long after all.
Five things to share:
As you are all well aware of by now, plenty of people stay in miserable relationships but nobody wants to leave a happy marriage— And people who are content with social media don’t read time spent offline. You are here because you’re unhappy over there, and although there is a part of you that wants to leave, wants out, another part of you is scared you might need it, it might be as good as it’s going to get, or worse yet it could be worse out there. I understand; I, too, was once trapped over there, too afraid to leave, too miserable to stay.
I cannot explain how good it feels on this side of just, you know when you get out of a very toxic relationship with someone you thought you needed and then you’re like prove to yourself, you’re like I don’t need you…
A quote I want to share with you:
The Self is the friend of a man who masters himself through the Self, but for a man without self-mastery, the Self is like an enemy at war.
― The Bhagavad Gita, India
The question should be, Is (100 ways to spend time offline) what I want to spend my time doing? (Yes, because it feels better.)
P.s. Or Even Better, You Might Find Yours
That’s all for this week!
Thank you for reading, and share with anyone you think may benefit.
Until next time,
Mehret
Yes yes yes!!! This is a paragraph i wrote recently which really relates, i did not know what leaving social media would bring but it has brought SO MUCH!
“Surprisingly (unsurprisingly) these all have a domino effect on each other. Using my phone less means I have more time for art, for hobbies, for crafting, for reading. More time for art, hobbies, crafting, reading, means I am more relaxed, have more mental space to discover new skills, learn to sew, bake bread, get outside more. More time for new skills, learning to sew, baking bread, getting outside more means I can buy less because I repair my clothes, I have new hobbies and find joy in creation not consumption, am fitter, am mentally healthy, and on, and on, and on. (Did I know that bringing my smartphone’s screen time from 9 hours a day to 1 hour a day would do all of this? No! and it probably would’ve helped!)”
Thank you for this newsletter—it has been a helpful reminder to get myself offline and enjoy life more often. I have a question: if I don't specifically find myself addicted to social media (though I can certainly be drawn in to Instagram from my browser), do the same ideas apply to an urge to scroll anything on the internet? Safari/YouTube/general web browsing is my biggest culprit. For those of us with an urge to "know things" from mindless Googling or reading headlines, does this involve a similar journey of building self awareness and inquiry?