Social media is a mirror, anddddd a mirror that I would like to shatter. Instead of receiving seven years of bad luck for breaking it, I will instead have different fractals, different pieces of glass, that will all offer me a different perspective, and that’s not bad luck at all.
Those different reflections will actually offer me MORE luck than a rabbit’s foot, four-leaf clover, or family of ladybugs combined because I will be able to see the truth of what social media really is. Well, we’ll all feel that lucky once we remember what luck is.
“Luck” isn’t luck; it’s presence. It’s awareness. It’s alignment. When you’re focused on the now, you’re able to notice the signs that are always around you at all times. You’re able to participate in the constant stream of dialogue that’s always coming from the Universe.
When your head isn’t in the clouds, but it’s glued to your phone, the only reflection or perspective the mirror can offer you is that of tech neck, which isn’t flattering, nor does it feel good.
Social media is not good or bad. It just is. We’re able to use it to support us, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t need a break from it. Here are 5 reasons why you need to take scheduled breaks from social media.
5. Social media IS a mirror, and it’s only offering you one perspective.
When you are on social media, you only see one perspective. One perspective of yourself and one perspective of everyone that you’re following. You’re seeing what people are choosing to put out. The perspective that they want you to see. You’re witnessing what has been carefully selected and “niched down” to provide you with the experience that they want for you. When you’re always looking at the same perspective, you’re it’s one dimensional. You don’t see any other view or angle. They’re always in the same position. When you are consistently viewing the exact same thing over and over again, you’re in a state of consumption, and what you’re consuming begins taking up valuable real estate in your mind. You don’t have room to hang any other mirrors up on your wall because this one takes up all of it and is mirroring back to you what you already know. Taking a break from social media allows you to be refreshed, reinspired, reenergized, and reengaging with the actual life that is around you, so when you return, even if their position hasn’t changed, you have a better view of the situation.
4. That mirror can break at any time, and when it does, it can cut you.
We’ve seen the end of Myspace, Vine, the headlines of TikTok being potentially banned in the United States, and the impact that these endings and the threats have taken on mental health. Creators all over the world are posting videos of the fear of their tears and of their sleepless nights. Creators do not own social media, and although social media shows and shares your life, it is not your actual life. When and if it “breaks,” “goes dark,” or “transitions” into something else, you won’t be feeling empty or lost if you had other ways to express yourself, be creative, and be social with those you love. Taking breaks from something and being present somewhere else reminds you of the temporariness of everything, including our life, and when you access that state of presence, you step into a space of appreciation: for the platform and what it offers, but also for the rest of your life that is more important than an app.
3. When you stare in the mirror all day, the reflection never changes.
When you look into a mirror, you see a reflection of yourself staring back. If the person, not the mirror, does not change their outfit, no matter what they do, the reflection will look the same. Walking away from the mirror and coming back to it later allows you to stop obsessing over what you do see and gives you an opportunity to change it. If you keep staring into the mirror obsessively waiting for something to change, you’ll start to notice things and create stories and insecurities about what’s not even there.
If you are always on social media, always obsessing over what to post, and never taking your eyes off of it, you start obsessing over things that aren’t even true. Vanity metrics will consume you, and you will start criticizing things that no one else can even see. If you would just walk away and clear your mind, you will come back and realize what you thought was wrong really wasn’t.
2. Mirrors reflections are not actually what you look like.
Scientists have proven that we, as human beings, have never truly seen what we look like. We have only ever witnessed yourself through a mirror. A mirrored reflection is not perfect; it’s sometimes inverted and sometimes distorted, and so is social media. When you spend all your time on social media, all that’s being reflected back to you are assumptions and projections that you’re making about what you see. You’re not subjective because you’re liking what you do and scrolling past what you don’t, but you don’t even know if that situation is really what it looks like. Social media has caused so many arguments, disagreements, and miscommunication for everyone from friend groups to celebrities to politicians, and when we judge someone, including yourself, solely on reflection, we do not really see the whole picture.
1. Mirror, mirror on the wall, the comparison is the thief of all.
Social media can be a great place for collaboration, but it’s also a huge place for competition. When we are looking at what everyone else is thinking, feeling, saying, and doing, it naturally creates feelings of comparison, and this comparison is the thief of all joy, confidence, and authenticity. It makes you question your worth, your status in life, and if what you’re doing is right.
Social media has created a generation of “influencers,” and when your thoughts, feelings, and actions are being influenced by everyone else instead of your own intuition, you become less of who you really are and instead of a mirror reflection of everyone else.
Stepping away allows you to come back into the wholeness and appreciation for who you really are compared to no one else except the person you were yesterday.
When you “break” the “mirror” that is “social media” into pieces and you look at it from different perspectives, you can see what is there to help us and connect us. If you are not careful when looking at it from this angle and stare into that piece of glass for too tight or too long, you can end up cutting yourself. Be gentle with yourself, with your social media. Take a break when you need to and know that it’s okay to look, but sometimes it’s okay not to touch. Or swipe. Or scroll.
