Recently, I decided
to take a little break from Instagram. Honestly, my motive was being just
really tired of seeing every minute of people's day-to-day life. Did I
really need to know every time someone was drinking a smoothie? Did I really
need to know every time someone was working out? Did I REALLY need to
know every time people were hanging out together? It was exhausting
tracking all of these people and their hour by hour activities.
So I decided to take
a hiatus. I have fasted/taken breaks from social media many times, for
different reason and for different lengths of time. God is very
consistent about speaking to me through these times, and did not fail to speak
again during this particular hiatus.
Through not engaging
specifically in Instagram, I felt less of a desire to take pictures throughout
my day. Typically, I will not go a day without taking at least one
picture, and usually putting it on Instagram. Over the years, I have come
to be proud of the fact that I take a lot of pictures-- of friends, family,
myself, events, etc. Usually, other people that are a part of my life are
happy that I take pictures-- either because they themselves are involved in
that memory, or because it is an easy way to be updated on my life and what I
am up to.
My main motive for
taking pictures is because I am afraid to forget the memory. I do not
know if other people feel this way, but I am genuinely concerned that if there
is not a picture from a certain event or memory, I will one day never recall
it.
During my time away
from Instagram, I noticed myself enjoying my surroundings so much more.
Without being worried about taking a picture, I was able to laugh without
documenting what was funny. I was able to drive without documenting where I was
going. I was able to spend time with my friends without documenting that
I was. I was able to look at nature without documenting that it was there.
I was able to drink a smoothie without anyone knowing. I was able to work
out without taking a picture of the treadmill.
There was so much
freedom in engaging in life without proving to the social networking community
how my world was going.
Not taking pictures
correlated with Twitter and Facebook as well. Who would have thought that
I could think of something clever without feeling the need to post it? Do
people really need to know every time I think of something that could be
enlightening or funny? Why not be alone with God and my own thoughts?
In Love Does
by Bob Goff, he writes,
"I used to
think I needed to record stories, but now I know I just need to engage them."
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