Lately, it’s been difficult for me to set hours in which i don’t spend time on social media: scrolling and scrolling, looking at photos on instagram, etc. This made me think how dependent we are on our phones and internet. We are a generation that has been brought up with the privilege of the internet. Don’t get me wrong, i am forever grateful because now we can reach out to people from all over the world. We can make a change trough social media. I’ts amazing.
However, as everything else, there’s the pros and cons. I felt the need to write about this topic for a long time, i feel it is so important. As a generation, i feel we are dealing with an internet addiction that’s leading us to stress and anxiety. Young girls compare themselves to IG models, we spend hours watching videos on youtube when we know it’s time to rest, we scroll though every comment section without noticing that everything is food for our minds.
I have come up with the conclusion that we are ignoring ourselves. When i was suffering from anxiety i spent hours on the internet, trying to run away from myself and my uncomfortable feelings. When i realized this, everything started making sense. I understood why people spent hours staring at the TV or why people became alcoholics. I got it. We have a tendency to run away from the feelings we do not want to experience.
It makes sense, right? Because they have taught us that we should not experience these emotions. “We should be always happy”. The world needs to hear this: YOU are allowed to feel sad. You are allowed to feel uncomfortable emotions. Let them flow and then let them go. Trust me, at first it hurts but when you stop ignoring your sadness, it will take time, but it will go.
To heal we need to feel. But we have been ignoring ourselves. How are we going to heal if we keep running away from ourselves?
If you are faced with an uncomfortable feeling: take a moment for yourself. Stop scrolling endlessly trying to ignore it. Take a deep breath. Cry as much as you need to. Tell yourself that it’s ok to be feeling this way, forgive yourself. And then, let it go. You will feel so much better.
I hope this wasn’t all over the place.
Much love,
Cami
