Social Media Detox

       This past week something has been occupying my mind and no, it isn’t schoolwork like it should be.  It’s something that used to be a huge fear of mine: “time”.  It all started when I was having a conversation with my sister about social media.  She said she was thinking about deleting her Facebook because she doesn’t want to regret all the time she spent on it when she could have been spending that time with her children.  For those of you who know me, you know I have a teensy, tiny bit of an addiction to social networking.  Ok, it’s a bad addiction.  So it got me thinking, and like always, my thoughts scattered everywhere.
When my mind scatters, the first thing it normally touches is music.  So I turned to my music idols.  John Lennon once said, “Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”  I’ve always turned away from this quote, not because I don’t believe it, but because I’ve personally found that whenever I waste time, I wasn’t enjoying it. However, today I was on a Muse kick and was listening to the song “Knights of Cydonia.” There is a line in the lyrics I’ve always tried to live by.  “Don’t waste your time or time will waste you.”  To me, this makes more sense.  Time isn’t something we can earn.  It is a gift.  Some of us are given more of it, and some aren’t given nearly enough.  It’s like water.  You can try to hold it in your hands but it will find some sneaky way to slip through your fingers.
Everyone wishes they could slow down time, but how?  Is it even possible?  I believe it is and well, the answer is in the question.  “Slow down.”  We all live at such a fast pace and revolve our lives around planning for the future, that we forget to live in the present.  Sometimes when I come home from work I immediately start planning how I’m going to go about my day tomorrow.  I want to stop this. I want to start living more in the present.
         I think one of the best ways to practice this is to look at your children, and if you’re like me and haven’t been blessed with any yet, look at some child in your life.  Now pause.  They will never be as young as they are in that very moment.  Even though it may seem like it’s happening slowly, they are growing older.  Time is taking them away from you, like water trickling through your fingers.  So slow it down.  Be with the people you love.  When you set aside time for the people in your life, you exercise your awareness. When you truly are with them, right here, right now, you’ll find yourself surrounded by love.  You will become aware of it and learn that we do not hold love because that would imply we have a capacity for it.  There is no capacity for love. It’s something our souls produce and we have the power and free will to release it or not.  Living in the present gives us the time we need to release it.    
This week, I’m turning away from my cell phone for once.  I’m logging out of my Facebook, instagram, pinterest, vine, etc. (I know, it’s sad) I’m going to watch the sunset and not feel the need to document it on every form of technology.  Instead, I’ll take a mental picture. I’ll put it in a safe place inside where it can’t be deleted or thrown away.  I don’t just want to live in the present time, I want to live in the present place. Truly live there and I invite you to do it with me too.  Let’s detox.  Let’s disconnect from the world of social media and reconnect with the real world around us. Let’s slow down. Time can be measured by memories. So make some.  In fact, make more than just some, make hundreds. Let’s live. Let’s be. Let’s love.

 Namaste.