I Took A Break From
Social Media. by Jack Gorbett
I took a break from social media.
Eh, it was two weeks.
In that time I've learned that my behaviors both contributing and retreating from social media can be compared to the band The Rolling Stone's usage of drugs.
In other words, It's intermittent.
They might have written and recorded their finest music while on it, but I assure you their memory would be hazy.
Now I know what you're thinking. 1.) The Rolling Stones? What is this 1969? and 2.) What's intermittent?
They might have written and recorded their finest music while on it, but I assure you their memory would be hazy.
Now I know what you're thinking. 1.) The Rolling Stones? What is this 1969? and 2.) What's intermittent?
Mick Jagger couldn't get 'no satisfaction' and I couldn't have my instant shot of dopamine, scrolling though my Facebook feed like a mad hatter.
Although the song 'Satisfaction' was written some fifty-five years ago the lyrics can aptly apply to today's need to find happiness within the digital age of constant stimulation. Specifically the line:
"I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try."
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try."
It's as if the boys from England knew the human condition and could almost ride the zeitgeist wave of tackling consumerism equating to happiness. Not much has changed since 1964 in that regard.
Our own Deceleration of Independence gives us the right to pursue happiness, but it says nothing about the right to experience the blues or better yet, sadness . Instead, the author (and many in his day), gave people the blues.
It's no secret that in America if you're not feeling happy then, something is wrong with you. .
A lot of changes happened within that two week time period for me and it was all a learning process to get me through as Prince wisely put, 'this thing called life.'
And it's all good, with gratitude being the attitude.
I've been grateful for many things: An amazing supportive wife. A kid who is as lovable as she is kind, a house I can sleep in, and a job that educates me everyday and provides a livable wage.
When I was in my social media fix much like Keith Richards hooked on heroin during Exile on Main St. I was masking the anxiety of fear instead of facing it head on.
By the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones had spent the money they owed in taxes and left Britain before the government could seize their assets. Now this previous sentence bears no point to the overall ethos of this blog post, nor does it bear substance on my personal quest to treat social media like reaching out to the mob, i.e. sparingly.
All I can say is that taking a break here and there has given me what Samuel L. Jackson's Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction received.
Now I'm trying to live in the now.
It's a process, and it's one I take day by day with a great sense of relief.
A lot of changes happened within that two week time period for me and it was all a learning process to get me through as Prince wisely put, 'this thing called life.'
And it's all good, with gratitude being the attitude.
I've been grateful for many things: An amazing supportive wife. A kid who is as lovable as she is kind, a house I can sleep in, and a job that educates me everyday and provides a livable wage.
When I was in my social media fix much like Keith Richards hooked on heroin during Exile on Main St. I was masking the anxiety of fear instead of facing it head on.
By the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones had spent the money they owed in taxes and left Britain before the government could seize their assets. Now this previous sentence bears no point to the overall ethos of this blog post, nor does it bear substance on my personal quest to treat social media like reaching out to the mob, i.e. sparingly.
All I can say is that taking a break here and there has given me what Samuel L. Jackson's Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction received.
Now I'm trying to live in the now.
It's a process, and it's one I take day by day with a great sense of relief.
