During my recent trip to Spain, I visited Valencia with my family and stumbled upon big, plastic, squishy, diaphanous hamster balls (more affectionately known as zorbs). These plastic hamster balls have always interested me, especially after I heard so much about them for my friends who visited the La Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias two years earlier. I had always imagined how fun it would be to finally sit in one myself. Plus, it promised for a super cute Insta pic.
But here's the catch. My family and I stumbled upon these Zorbs as we were walking around the city, a day earlier than we expected. Unluckily, none of us had our phones on us. Therefore, my parents gave my sister and I the option of trying the balls now or returning the next day. While my sister immediately said yes, I hesitated. Honestly, I really wanted to take a cute picture of the hamster ball. I mean I had way too for two years for that perfect lighting, right? But then I realized that living in the moment was much more important than any picture I could take on the entire trip. So I went for it.
As I stumbled around the hamster bowl, I could not anticipate the sheer amount of adrenaline that was rushing through my veins as I frantically stumbled around. For 10 perfect minutes, I channeled my inner child with no thoughts about what I looked like. My hair was all over the place and perspiration was sticking all over my body in that slightly suffocating (but ironically liberating) hamster ball. By not having to worry about taking a picture to show to the world, I was truly able to live in the present. Plus, when we returned the next day, our tour guide whisked us around and we wouldn't have had time to stop anyways.
Looking back, I'm hoping to lesson my thirst for social media with the intent of living my current life more consciously and with more purpose. It's going to be easier said than done, so I've compiled three tips to help us all slowly lessen, if not completely eliminate, our need to always post on social media.
1. Ask why
Why are you posting on social media? Are you trying to spread the word about something? Are you trying to be cool? Are you posting for yourself? There's no right answer here, but it's helpful to take this into perspective. Consider why you choose to post and what you choose to post.
2. Post in good faith
Coming to terms with the above question may help identify a few things about the image you are creating on social media, especially if you are trying to impress. If that's the case, you are not being the true you. You are a unique and special snowflake so don't be someone you aren't just to get more likes. We've all been told to act in good faith and to be yourself, so why not post in good faith, too?
3. Log out
If you're anything like me, getting even one social media notification opens a Pandora's Box. You don't just open the app to check the number of life's on or picture, but you definitely spend additional time looking at other media too. Now if this is a stressful time or important time, like exam week, I always log out of addicting social media apps for two reasons. First of all, it is simply a distraction. Second, it's always disheartening this see other people who seem like they are having the time of their lives while you are at home (probably by yourself). If you need to, delete the app completely from your phone. You will still have your account and you can always re-download the app later if you choose to do so.
I challenge you to at least log out of your favorite social media for a few days and be aware of living in the moment. Do you view your life any differently?
