6 months ago, I decided to embark on the hardest challenge of my life: a 30-day school trip to a Fijian village with no YouTube, Instagram, or Snapchat. And it became the best days of my life.
At first, I struggled with it. I was counting down the days before I could go back to my phone. Instead of a one-second walk, my phone was now separated by a 12-hour plane ride.
Many times, I found myself sitting outside, watching the world pass by around me as I stood still, and I just had to accept that. Social media is so embedded within our culture that it has become the natural way of life. But in the village, I started noticing something that felt almost unreal. No one was on their phones. Be it working or talking, everyone was outside and doing stuff together. For the first time in a long time, it made me realize what I’d been missing.
By week 2, I didn’t have to force myself to ignore phones, and honestly, it felt good. Social media promises us convenience and connectivity, but we trade a part of our souls when we create our accounts. Now, I’m starting to doubt if this really is a worthy trade.
Social media can bring us closer to people who are far away, but it often pulls us farther from the people right beside us. In trying so hard to stay connected to everything, we slowly lose touch with what’s directly in front of us.
Think of how many times you used your phone at the dinner table. We’re tricked into believing we’re connecting, but so often, we’re doing the opposite.
We are isolating ourselves.
If you break social media down to its most basic components, what we crave doing so much is just swiping across pixels on a screen: it’s nothing more than that. And when you think about it like that, it becomes so much more meaningless.
Our lives are too jam-packed and interesting to be reduced to endless scrolling on social media.
But this doesn’t mean you have to move to a Fijian village or abandon all your electronics. It just means taking a break. A real one, this time.
Because it’s never about scrolling or likes, it’s about soul and living life. The only moment that matters is now.
Life is precious, so let’s gain back control and finally start living again.
