has social media made you a validation junkie?

 

This week has been interesting.

I’m down in Southern California on a business trip with Mr. Moss and I have been taking a break from writing posts. I’ve lugged my laptop with me so I’m doing plenty of reading and writing. But I’ve been trying to disconnect from the whirlwind momentum of blogging. Do you know what I mean? I’m talking about those silent pressures to keep your blog current and to be active in the blog world. The truth is, I love reading. I love the inspiration I find out there on lifestyle and design  blogs and sometimes I feel guilty when I’m happily reading along and I don’t take the time to leave a comment.

It’s true, I actually feel like apologizing. I’m sorry I’m enjoying your wonderful post without letting you know. And sorry if I’m being selfish, if I’m being a taker in the blog world. I understand if you don’t stop by my blog in return because there’s so many others who are reading your posts and leaving delicious, little comments behind. And god knows there’s only so much time you have to return those gestures.

This is the kind of craziness that goes through my little blogger pea brain.

So this week I haven’t published one post. And part of me is in observation mode. I’m watching myself as I let the stillness settle around me.

• What happens when I don’t constantly check my own blog, my stats, my email?
• What happens when I don’t have a Fall post to link up to the latest popular linky party? 
• How do I feel when I read thought-provoking posts that are followed by an endless parade of comments?

Hmm…very interesting.

There’s definitely an insecurity that comes with stepping away from the act of blogging.

A worry that I’ll be forgotten maybe? That my legion of followers (that’s a joke) will suddenly abandon me and never return? That my stats will plummet below sea level?

Funny but when I see these fears on my white computer screen they actually look irrational. Like silly little words. And yet these are the mind-bending thoughts that can rob me of my joy and turn blogging into a virtual high school. With all those comparisons. A god-awful cafeteria table with the popular girls and the jocks and the artsy crowd and the stoners and the desperation for acceptance.

But there’s something else about blogging breaks that I couldn’t put my finger on.

Until this morning when I read this insightful post and the light-bulb suddenly went on. In this post the author writes about her 40 day break from social media and what she learned in the process. First of all, you probably know this but the whole world of  social media is a slippery slope; and she did a great job describing the frenetic busyness of it all. And how easy it is to get hooked. To have that constant urge to ‘check’ something-anything—on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, her blog. She became hyper aware of the unhealthy restlessness with it all, a discontent even. It’s the feeling there’s always something better happening, someplace else. A lively party that you’re missing.

And this feels bad.

And there was something else she mentioned about blog posts that hit home: it’s the ease in which posting can quickly become a way of asking the world for validation.

“Do you “like” me? Am I special enough? Am I funny enough, deep enough, smart enough, successful enough, love-able enough? How much do you like my opinion about this, that, and every other thing?”                   

She found the hardest part of disconnecting from social media was remembering that her ‘little life’ was enough just the way it was. And that she didn’t have to always be working so hard to keep producing interesting tweets and worthwhile blog posts and how there was something healthy about the quiet space that was created when she took a break from it all.

 

I love when I stumble on a post that makes me think.

How about you?

When was the last time you took a break from social media?

 

xoxo

Leslie

 

Technorati Tags: blogging,socal media,mindfulness