Tuning Out the Noise
Welcome back!
Recently I have been called, more so pushed, to call my energy back in terms of social media. I am definitely someone who gets a little bit obsessive. I like to study things, share my knowledge… share my random thoughts, etc. I can be quite the introvert and sometimes I feel as though social media is a genuine way to interact. As soon as Virgo season began, I felt bombarded with feelings of productivity. I needed to get back in gear, accomplish my goals, set budgets and realistic plans for myself. As a Virgo rising, that is definitely a big part of who I am always, but I feel all these things pretty intensely right now.
Though the internet and social media have given me many gifts, from meeting real life friends, making meaningful connections, networking, sharing my gifts with the world on this big platform, sharing my thoughts, etc. I have such a love-hate relationship with it. Lately I feel incredibly distracted by it. If I’m honest with myself, there are days when I feel like I wasted so many hours mindlessly scrolling, when I could be redirecting that energy to creating art, for example. Or accomplishing those goals that I just mentioned. But more than anything, I feel like social media is this alternate universe where it is very LOUD. You may or may not know this, but anime is one of my favorite genres. There is one anime film called “Summer Wars” — even if you don’t like anime, I suggest watching it. It’s about how the internet is this very real alternate universe that you can access and be anything you want, but it gets out of control, ruled by something evil and somehow begins ruling their real lives, like the stop signs on the street, and people’s clocks in their homes. Some part of me really views the internet that way. We can go on these sites and play these roles, we don’t even have to be our real selves. In fact, many people go on the internet to be cruel and evil. People may think they know us, our energy, but they are interpreting our words in various ways. Through a screen, with a made up voice in their mind, and a made up tone that isn’t always ours. For some reason, this all feels very fake to me at this time. I’m just not willing to play any role anymore. I don’t feel like being misunderstood for the sake of having an online presence.
I’m taking a little break from specific social media apps. I have found myself “unfollowing/unfriending” people a lot lately too, especially many of the “spiritual” accounts. I’m really being called to get clear and tune into my own voice. If you think about it, back in the day, spiritual gurus would retreat into the mountains far away from society and big cities. Many still do and even if it seems silly, taking a step back from social media is doing that in a small way. What that says to me is that the answers are found in the stillness, in silence. We may not even be aware of how truly loud social media can be, energy wise. We are constantly reading words, being overloaded with information, with opinions, we witness chaos every second of the day. I’m part of the generation that once upon a time, had no internet or cell phone. We were not aware of what other people were up to every second of their lives and I kind of miss that. The thing is, we don’t have to be miss it. No matter what happens with your online presence, you are still here. The people who want to be connected to you, will be. What are you really “missing out” on?
A big lesson for me lately has been to stay present and mindful. Social media is just not helping in that sense, if anything it’s adding to my anxiety. If you are finding yourself overwhelmed with social media, as I have been, take a little break. Get back into nature and really focus on the daily moments. Put that energy into your creative projects, your goals, your to-do lists and also try focusing on real life interactions. Nothing compares to real life energy exchanges. You are not missing out on anything because whatever you are meant to see and experience, will make its way to you, online or off.
Summer Wars trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsLwVoZqEjk
