In the world of loads of information and crowds of voices on social media, it often seems almost normal to lose ourselves, our peace of mind, and our voices. Social media can be as calming as it can be distressing. Much of it depends on knowing the difference between what our mind needs to experience to feel calmer and more joyful and what we feed our minds on a daily basis while randomly scrolling through social media. It is very easy to get swayed by thousands of content that social media offers us today. But being very particular about our consumption of heaps of daily doses of information, images, videos, and ideas is very important in ensuring our inner peace. It is also pivotal to be mindful of the amount and the ways of receiving those doses. We have to be mindful of the content that we engage with and check with ourselves often to observe if the content or people related to the content are distressing for us. Sometimes, we know that something is going to bother or trigger us, and we still allow ourselves to indulge in that sort of content or let that content control our senses. We might do it out of curiosity or simply from not being used to listening to what our mind and body want. We are so used to diving into the waves of popularity and trends or indulging in random scrolling that we become unable to realize how much of it is affecting our inner peace. There can be many reasons why a particular content, person, page, or opinion might trigger us. It varies from person to person, lifestyle to lifestyle, and point of view to point of view. So, we need to be careful and mindful of what and whose content we are engaging with. It is not possible to agree with every perspective of each individual. There might be some individuals who can be outright disrespectful (to certain communities or ideologies), so their content might be triggering. We can be sensitive to certain topics, noises, images, and visuals. Even after knowing that something or someone might specifically trigger us, we sometimes continue to follow them or watch their stories and posts and let our mind experience something irrespective of the fact that it cannot and does not want to handle that experience in the first place. Then a rush of different emotions like anger, discomfort, agony, and despair start boiling inside us and that heat comes out in many forms, in many places, around many people or beings. Let’s ask ourselves, what do we get from that? How is not understanding what or how much our body and mind can take becoming normal for us in our daily lives?
Asking these questions is the first step toward realizing that our body and mind are trying to tell us something we are overlooking. This endless scrolling that keeps us from listening to our body and mind might seem relaxing, but it actually makes us more tired. Alexander Den Heijer says, “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.” The mind and body both feel tired, not only because they have a lot of information to process from all that scrolling but also because they are not receiving anything that can make them feel invigorated, calm, and connected to something meaningful.
While it’s easier said than done, it is possible to filter our social media in a way that provides us content that our body and mind will not only be able to take or handle but also feel rejoiced, at peace, and calm. Things we can do to make sure social media does not become another battle that we have to fight or another medium that pulls us down in life can be as simple as listening to what our body, mind, soul, and heart want. Sometimes, it might not be so simple, even though it sounds simple. Our inner world is somehow so numbed and toned down by the outer noises that it takes a lot of energy, persistence, and patience to pierce through those noises to reach what resides inside of us, which is perhaps silently sobbing in a corner and asking us to release it. It’s all right to take some time to really understand what makes us happy and what positively stimulates our body and mind. Staying or remaining positive all the time might not be possible, and that should not be the aim. Rather, we could allow our feelings and emotions to take their shape and space. It is equally important to make sure that we take steps and count each step, no matter how small, toward understanding how to create an environment that caters to the betterment of our body and mind.
So maybe after we’ve spent enough time with ourselves or at least to an amount where we know what and whom our mind wants to connect to, we can peek at our social media again and start filtering. How about unfriending that person who never had any good intentions toward us? What about unfriending that bully who wouldn’t let us breathe in our school? That relative, that friend, that someone we came across in life but really do not want to associate with ever, how about letting them go from our social life? Not letting them have any access to our social life (which is a very big part of some of our lives right now) and allowing our mind and body to know that these people do not have to know what’s going on in our lives and we also don’t have to see what’s going on in their life (enter- a big sigh of relief). How about unfollowing certain pages or people because their content is no longer to our taste? It’s totally fine to choose what’s best for us, unapologetically and remorselessly. These might seem like really small acts, but these are the small acts that are going to create a butterfly effect in our lives.
We can disagree on certain topics and still respect others’ opinions. But when a topic crosses a line or if its point is too sensitive for us, we can unfollow, unfriend, or remove it and find peace of mind in creating a boundary that protects our well-being.
We can follow pages, people, ideas, and content that motivate us, help us to visualize the life that we want for us, foster our mental and physical health, align with our taste and vision, and soothe our mind by allowing it to experience things that are not forced upon it randomly. These slow and small changes can ultimately create a space where we feel connected to the world and find peace and a sense of belonging in some part of this world.
So we can follow that page that has aesthetic images of books along with book recommendations and reviews, that cozy coffee shop page, that person who visits interesting places in a country or city that we really want to visit, that singer or writer who inspires us to become a better artist and a better human, that professional who has plenty of resources on healing from grief, trauma or anxiety, pages which have beautiful, tranquil and breathtaking pictures and videos of cottages, nature, mountains, and animals, that artist who paints the world with imagination and that gives us relief from the chaos of the world, that page that posts quotes from books, series or movies! We can connect with those whose content, philosophy, and vision connect or match with ours or inspires us to grow and broaden our thoughts about life and people constantly. This is our social media. This is our life. We have the right to choose what we want to experience on social media. We can choose something we find value in, or that adds value to our life. Let’s engage with words like disengage, disconnect, sever, or tether to find our true connection in this world. Having these terms in mind can be helpful in building a strong boundary that does not keep us detached from social or real life but helps us to understand our needs, to connect with ourselves, and make both real and social life meaningful and mindful.
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