Social media has begun to consume many facets of our lives. Most people in our generation have grown up with technology and started using it at a young age; our consumption of social media is so engrained in our mindset that it appears we are addicted.
I’m not saying social media isn’t good, it has drastically changed the scope of communication and how news is quickly shared across great distances. It allows us the ability to communicate with people who live a great distances away or stay in touch with those that we don’t see as frequently as we once used to.
However, our generation has become more enthralled with being “insta-famous” or what celebrity is “trending” for one reason or another and as a result we miss out on so much going on in the world around us.
I myself use social media, but not as frequently as some of my peers. I can attribute that to my upbringing, in particular, the fact that I didn’t own a smartphone until college. Sure I used Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram in high school, but not having a smartphone limited my access to at home on my laptop or a Wi-Fi accessible area with my iPod touch. Nowadays we have access to social media everywhere, home or office via computer or anywhere we go with tablets and smartphones. It seems at times we can’t escape it.
That is why we all should take advantage of this summer to change. As a college student, our summer will consist of a few things such as work, vacations/trips with family or friends and free time. While doing all of these things I challenge each and every one of you to disconnect. Silence your phone, turn off notifications or just leave it at home or in your car and get outside. Enjoy life. Enjoy the beauty of the world around us.
Go to a park, go for a hike, go to the beach, go somewhere where you can be free. Enjoy the peaceful silence of the wind, chirps of birds, see the colors of the world. With each experience you will grow, just as the world around you is.
Social media has affected each of us more than we realize. The constant image manipulation in the media has hurt us and how we perceive ourselves. We have come to define terms such as “beauty” and “healthy” based on these images and how the media has defined them for us. We have become so transfixed with images and with celebrities and their drama and controversies sometimes more often than more important issues in the world—politics, disease, disaster, poverty and other major problems.
By disconnecting, you free yourselves from the grasp of the media. You can create your own thoughts, and take in real beauty—unfiltered, unbiased, all-natural beauty created by Mother Nature. We can just relax, breathe and be free from the grasps of society. Outside we are alone, one with our surroundings, at peace with ourselves and our thoughts. We can clear our minds of the negativity and unimportant things glorified by the media and just take in the moment, place and time just as we see it.
And once you’ve come back home, share your experiences on social media—don’t filter it, be honest and truthful—everything was created the way it was for a reason, beautiful in its own right—and convince your friends, family and followers to do the same.
Disconnect or just enjoy the world and #GetOutside.
