Not to brag, but also totally bragging, my trip to France was incredible! #sorrynotsorry Not only was the retreat a wonderful experience and the people on it exceptional human beings, the time before and after spent with friends in Paris, my favorite city, was fantastic!
I was fully immersed in my time there, even with taking pictures and sharing it on Instagram.
I found myself quite unexpectedly enjoying the act of posting my time away on “the gram” as the kids call it.
I attribute this surprising happiness to a helpful formula;
1) Take pictures of things that captured my eye. Things I found to be beautiful, astounding, or new.
2) Immediately forget about them. By doing so, effectively staying immersed in the moment. Huzzah!
3) Revisit the pictures at the end of the day and create a series of Instagram stories with cute and impossibly witty taglines.
Not only did it become like an online, interactive journal I could share with others who would then interact with the images, write their replies and hopefully receive joy from them, it gave me an opportunity to relive the day.
2 times lived. Three times if you count sharing with others. I loved it, and will most likely follow this formula in the future. With that said. I do think it is worth noting when sharing online becomes too much.
There are two ways of moving through life that are inextricably linked.
Action and contemplation.
One needs the other.
The trip to France was action based. Months of planning lead to a grand adventure filled with amazing moments.
The weeks following this experience have been dedicated to contemplation; taking time to let my trip away, the fresh perspectives, and the lessons it provided have a chance to sink in and inform my day to day existence.
For me, the time after a trip is when it gets sticky. This is when it’s not easy at all.
THIS is when social media and sharing thoughts online gets in the way.
Coming down from the high of travel and back to the reality of an everyday schedule, while still feeling the electricity of a journey well lived? That takes time, energy, and contemplative efforts.
Efforts that look like deliberate thoughts of gratitude for what I have at home, writing down the life lessons learned while abroad, integrating new habits I found to be helpful while away into my life.
Basically it is a laundry list of things that require a concerted amount of effort, made all the more challenging when you have social media distracting you.
How so?
Social media helps us avoid our feelings by offering endless, more often than not inconsequential entertainment. It gives us every opportunity to compare our lives (which in my case suddenly felt less enticing compared to living in a French Chateau for a week nbd) to other people’s feeds who masterfully curate their online world to make it look like life is amazing for them all the live long day! Don’t believe it for a second. Montana the Instagram model gets depressed and farts just like the rest of us.
Also, there is a sensation I’ve experienced when I realize I’ve been using social media too much that I can only describe as a fracturing of awareness. That moment when I see something beautiful and my mind is pulled towards a train of thought that sounds something like this;
“That’s so lovely! I should take a picture for my Instagram stories. What will I say? How should I phrase it to sound lighthearted yet insightful? Witty yet not overly pretentious? What gifs should I use? Who will see it? Does it coincide with an online yoga persona? Will anyone even care!? What is my life!??” – ad nauseam.
This is when sharing is no longer caring for myself or for others.
Hence why I took a week off from posting online. Admittedly I was still on Instagram occasionally and scrolling through my feed. I fully acknowledge even that was an attempt at self distraction.
The point I’m trying to makes is this:
Like so many things in life, time online spent sharing our experience needs to be kept in balance. When it begins to take over our life, we need to take a step back.
Quiet the noise of social media to allow for the contemplation of your life. We need this time of reflection and assessment to better move forward in our actions.
If there is one thing my time in France taught me, it’s this – when in doubt, drink wine.
No wait…..that’s not it. Well sort of it is. (subtle plug for my wine and yoga workshop coming up on July 19th!)
But seriously – my time away taught me I need to slow down more, give less fucks and no longer keep doing things that leave me feeling depleted or used. And wine definitely helps with this to do list.
So maybe share a bit less online, so you can care a bit more for your heart and brain. Cheers to that 😉
