Hello New Year!
Hello 2022 -
Happy New Year!
Stop and smell the roses, intentionally.
The other day I bought myself some flowers while doing some grocery shopping. (Shout out to Trader Joe's! Love their little arrangements.) It occurred to me to snap a photo of them when I passed them in my entry. They looked so pretty!
If you've ever worked in social media or know any of us who work with it on a regular basis, you know taking random pictures happens a lot. You never know when you're going to need a close-up picture of wood, or coffee, or flowers...
This act of stopping and smelling my roses and taking their picture made me start thinking about slowing down. I mean consciously, intentionally slowing down. It occurred to me that I want to keep doing this, or at least trying to do this.
Over the past several years, uncontrollable issues have made me slow my roll. When forced, most of the time, it's not enjoyable. These days, I'm learning to enjoy and embrace a slower pace mostly by choice. Maybe it's a side-effect of my personal events as well as the pandemic that we've all dealt with since 2020. Whichever, intentionality has become a new goal. Slowing down brings intentionality, or does being intentional cause you to slow down?
Whichever comes first, it translates to social media, too. Social media use needs to be more deliberate and purposeful. I believe this would benefit all of us. As users, how many times do you catch yourself mindlessly scrolling through images? Do you ever find yourself feeling pressure or guilt about posting/not posting an event? Or, you feel like you have to come up with some pictures to post and talk about so people won't forget about you? This is just not mentally healthy for any of us, and frankly, it unnecessarily crowds feeds.
Being intentional about social media use means those channels like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. need to serve you. It should not be the other way around.
Is your Instagram (or any other social account) serving you, or are you serving it? Who is the tool in your social media relationship?
Are you using it, or is it using you?
Don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of using social media. Being intentional and setting boundaries so that you ENJOY social channels is my hope for us all. If you don't enjoy it, then by all means don't invest your time. Life is too short.
Over the last few years, I've seen a shift away from the enjoyment of these platforms. Each of us has to take charge of our own use.
How do we get back to simply enjoying social media?
Know that you don't always need to post. There's nothing wrong with keeping special events to yourself or enjoying a meal without pictures.
Don't argue with that post that rubs you the wrong way. Just keep scrolling!
Don't open your app mindlessly. Have a purpose for being there. Did you want to check on a friend? Were you looking for dinner inspiration? Are you looking for something to do this weekend?
Once you've identified your purpose, your goal, your reason for being on whatever social channel, close it when you've met your goal.
Get offline when you feel the least little bit frustrated.
This year, let's get back to having a good time with each other via social media. Increase the joy for others and ourselves. Slow down. Be intentional. Enjoy.
So, buy yourself those roses so you have them to stop and smell! Don't miss the moment. Fully enjoy them. Smell them deeply. Smile. Then, if you want, post a picture.
Go forth, and be social.
