For the last email, I wanted to share some of your projects and experiences! I hope it can provide some inspiration as we transition out of this break. I've also added my thoughts below along with a final thank you :)

Well, I didn’t really “do” a lot of what I thought I’d do..I think I thought that I’d need things to distract me from not being on social media.  

 

What I ended up needing was to slow down, be with my feelings and my disregulation, and to start understanding that ungrounded pull towards things.  It was social media..but also things like feeling like I need a new (fill in the blank) that I then need to search for..or feeling like I need to know something that I need to google right now.  We’re in this place where we have access to SO much.  And I think that’s a double edge sword.  

 

I was actually surprised at how little of a pull I had towards social.  There were only like two times I wanted to mindlessly scroll, and it wasn’t a strong pull.  It has me evaluating here on the last day what I want my relationship with social to be moving forward.  I loved when I first joined and had real connections with a few people I found, I got inspiration from the art I saw and what others were creating, and it really built my confidence as an artist.  It made me feel like I had a place to express fully.  

 

But somewhere along the way, it changed.  It turned into mindlessly flipping through reels that often got my emotions heightened (ie all the political information coming in) or that sent me down some rabbit hole of information searching.  And I feel like somewhere along the way, I changed in it where I don’t feel like I was expressing myself from a place of connection anymore.  

 

Even though I didn’t do a lot from that list I had - and I’m sorry to say I didn’t do the 21 every days - I still filled my time with things that were more nurturing to myself.  I’m going further into limbic and nervous system healing.  I painted for myself at my own pace.  I read.  I did “silly” things like coloring and sticker books, which are so soothing to me.  

 

And given my mold toxicity symptoms happened to spike over the last 21 days due to some work they’re doing at my office, I truly rested instead of scrolling and felt how much my body needed that.  There’s a difference between sitting and gazing at the leaves blow in the tree outside of my window and sitting and scrolling through instagram.  One restores you and the other sends you into disregulation.  

 

I felt like I had more space in my life without social.  I felt more grounded and present.  And I definitely feel like I don’t want to go back to how it was - and like I want to define my intentions before I do jump back on again.

 

This is an early picture of some of the painting I did during the break - I’m still working on the big one in the background." I really loved the line Melissa wrote bolded above!

A lot of what Melissa experienced rang true for me too. I realized that the root of distraction and procrastination is avoiding some sort of emotion I don't want to feel, causinng resistance. While staying off of social media ended up being surprisingly easy (I had no urge to go on at all), I found non-digital ways to distract myself 😅 And even within that, I was still avoiding. For example, I chose to read my fun non-fiction book instead of the books about grief (I am half way through both though and I finished the non-fiction.)

 

The break also reiterated for me that I need to time block and schedule my time and tasks (even if it's loose) otherwise nothing will get done! And next time, I have to limit my watching shows/movies way more!

 

I did find that not being bombarded with headlines and news helped me feel mentally more clear and just better. And I didn't feel disconnected--the minimal news I did consume was enough and fellow artists' newsletters actually gave me ways I could help. 

 

There was also an aspect of hosting the break and that I do use the bulk of social media to share my art business that added a little bit of a challenge. But again, if I scheduled my time better I think this could be resolved and for the most part, I just let the social media go and it was fine! 

 

Even though I didn't do everything I wanted to, I did do a lot of things that brought me joy: creating art (I recorded my process and am now sharing each section on TikTok and IG), decorating postcards and envelopes for snail mail, lots of time in nature, finished a book, and went kayaking and to Mt. Rainier!

 

This really was an experiment for me since I had no idea what would happen and I am walking away with some helpful findings to move forward with. Overall, I'm glad I did this and would definitely want to do it again / make it a reoccurring thing! 

THANK YOU so much for joining me for this tech break-- I hope we can do it again sometime :) Having you be a part of this kept me accountable, motivated, and made it more fun! I hope these 3 weeks helped to make some space for the things you love, that you found enjoyment and value from it, and that it helped bring a little bit of clarity or give you ideas on how you'd like your everchanging relationship to be with the digital world. 

Take good care, enjoy the rest of your summer, and I hope to talk to you soon!

 

With gratitude,

PS: If you'd be interested in doing this again, I'd love to hear your thoughts in this 10 question survey.

PPS: If you'd like to connect face to face virtually, RSVP for the virtual hang out on 8/15!

PPPS: Here are different ways to stay in touch and support:

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