I recently took time off from social media in order to learn more about myself. In the beginning, I wasn't really sure if I would gain anything by doing this or if I was just trying to find a way to escape. In a sense, I may have been doing both. One thing I can say with confidence is that I don't see things the way I did.

For far too long I have relied on social media to give me a sense of reality and purpose. I believed that whatever was out there. I feel like all too often we look at Twitter for our reality, Instagram for what's "cool", and Snapchat for whose lives the best life and has the most fun, and Facebook to see what our grandparents are doing.

I found that when I wasn't on social media I was forced to face the reality that we all live in. The reality that our real power is more than our ability to stir together a perfect filter, 140 characters or have the coolest geo-filters. Our real power lies in our ability to do more than hide behind a screen, and that maybe lifting our heads up just enough to look one another in the eyes is the cure for all of our anger, hurt, pain, you name it.

Lets just assume for a minute that there is a better way to let go of the anger you built up, let's assume that there's a better way to talk about the pain you're feeling, a better way to communicate with others and maybe, just maybe, engaging in the world around you and not the world at your fingertips is the kind of release we need. What would that kind of world look like? How awesome it Ould be to walk around a crowded place and see smiling faces instead of light reflecting off of the screen in hand and onto the face chained to it?

Facing reality isn't always pretty. Maybe that's why we try to leave it. It's easier to ignore the real issues and sink into a different world full of thoughts, questions, and humor. Maybe we hide inside of these cloud-made worlds to get away from what's really happening.

For me, I left social media to escape what was really happening. I would like to say I did it to learn who I am without an audience but sadly I think more important was my need to get away from everything and everyone. I needed to be alone and to seclude myself in whatever way I could manage and that was it.

I don't know what is next for me. I don't know where life is going to take me or the next time will feel the need to run away from life. All I know is that there is a feeling of freedom when we look up and log off. Challenge yourself to rely less on these forms of meaningless social interactions and focus more on the humans walking beside you.