Fake vs Real Living: Our Break from the Fake

My teenage daughters and I took a ‘break from the fake’ not long ago and fasted (so to speak), from social media for a week. At the end of the week, we all went back to normal, with a better perspective, we agreed. Another week or so passed, and my fourteen-year-old said she realized her use of social media was making her feel bad. She felt much better during the week of the break, so decided to quit social media completely. I’m impressed with her maturity and wisdom, and told her so. It’s well-documented and unrefuted that social media use (and the screen time that comes with), is linked to numerous negative health outcomes, including headaches, insomnia, obesity and even diabetes and heart disease (from sitting around and sometimes even snacking while on the screen). Just as concerning, however, are mental health issues associated particularly with social media use, such as anxiety, depression, antisocial tendencies, feelings of isolation, and social media addiction (for more information, look into what some psychologists are calling Facebook Addiction Disorder). As with most things, too much of anything is where problems begin. Too much can too easily become addiction, and social media addiction is becoming increasingly prevalent. To evaluate your use, ask whether or not there is neglect of your personal life because of the behavior, and whether or not there is mental preoccupation with it. Is there escapism associated with the behavior? Does it provide mood modifying experiences? Do you find you spend more time engaged in the behavior than you used to; more than you imagined you would when you started? Do you feel the need to conceal the behavior? Could you give it up without a second thought? Those are questions associated with substance abuse and addiction, but can easily be applied to social media use. My girl realized she was going through a type of withdrawal; she felt anxious in the days following her stopping the use of her chosen social media apps. She sometimes didn’t know what to do with herself. She experienced boredom and frustration, even a little sadness. That’s OK. It’ll pass in time…or…she’ll go back to Snapchat, and maybe even Instagram. I understand. I didn’t ask her to give up her media completely. I only asked her to fast with me for a week. That exercise worked perfectly. It got us thinking. When we miss the real-life moments because we’re busy sharing on social media, we’ve lost something we can’t get back. When we can’t focus on the family because we’re focused on the newsfeed, we’re missing the point. We’re not thinking about fake or real news much anymore. We’re realizing what’s fake and what’s real living.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Cycles

Like the cycles of freedom and bondage experienced ages before Polybius wrote his theories of benign and malignant governments, we continue to cycle today, even thousands of years later. Generations, societies, governments and the governed cycle. Even the earth cycles as it spins through day and night, revolving through seasons and years over millennia and eons of time. Cycles are a theme of living things; growth and decline. We struggle for growth and cycle through periods of accomplishment and strength then ease and weakness. Time spent at ease leads to weakness; a very natural part of the living cycle. This is true for the body, both physical and metaphysical. Among my close friends, I would say this is true for both the body and the spirit. The phenomenon manifests in societies of all sizes, from that of the United States to those the size of the average American family. Around and around we go from weak to strong to weak; from poor to rich to poor. Generation after generation; hum...
Read more

Handprint on My Heart

A treasured friend told me today that I’ve left my handprint upon her heart (she quoted a line from a song she heard on the way to SWEAT with me, and said it spoke to her of me). Of course, I felt a welling of emotion. She’s left her handprint upon mine, too. That’s what we do in this life, isn’t it (if we do it right)? We leave our marks upon each other, upon the rising generation, upon the land, upon whatever it may be that will remember us when we’re gone… As I write, I’m sitting in the room with my mother-in-law, as her breathing grows increasingly shallow by the hour and her feeble heart grows tired of beating. Her body is aged and failing. She’s lived a long and wonderful life. Not only did she bring six boys and a daughter into this world, but she raised them in the hills, on a farm, in a little two-room cabin, with no modern utilities. She raised happy children and happy grandchildren who were, and ever will be honored to call her mother. She did it right. This fine lady has le...
Read more

Breathe Well

It’s quiet here this afternoon. Some of us are gone out for the day, some are napping and some are silently socializing on the internet. My home is very still in this moment. Stillness is good. All of us need to learn to be still…and breathe. Some of us need to learn how to move and breathe, too. That’s usually a little bit trickier, which is why part of training and learning to move effectively includes training and learning to breathe properly. Let’s talk about breathing. In a nutshell: The diaphragm contracts and expands, causing the chest cavity to increase and decrease in size, which in turn allows for lung expansion and compression. There’s a few other muscles involved, but that’s the basics of breathing, right? Most of us generally take it for granted. (If you are chronically out of breath, and you haven’t already done so, see your doctor.) At the beginning of an exercise program, breathing is probably the most difficult thing to learn and to control. A little bit of exertion, ...
Read more