Hi friends! Pardon the absence of blog posts and social media for the past few day. Sometimes life gets in the way, am I right? The past week or so has just been a little strange. Busier than normal, I suppose. With the weather warming up (please say spring is coming!) plus the holiday(s), there was more to do with family and friends, and less time to write up blog posts. Ah, well. That’s how it goes, and that’s ok! Now I’m back at ’em! Ha.

Today was originally supposed to be the start of a new series… However, because of my week last week, I wasn’t able to get around to putting the finishing touches on today’s post, so the launch has been pushed back to next month. What is the series about you ask? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about social media, and the way it affects me. I’ve never been one to get too caught up in the comparison game. Sure, there are times that I think “oh man, if only I had xy or z” or “if I only I could be as talented as _____”. But I don’t get too wrapped up in those thoughts and they quickly disappear. No, my problem stems instead from being a people person.

I’m an extrovert. A shy, introverted extrovert at times, but an extrovert. I love being around people, I love talking to them, giving advice, and finding out someone’s story. Some who don’t know me may think I come across as nosy or as a gossip, but that’s not true, I simply care. And it’s because I care so much that social media gets tricky.

I get so wrapped up in reading ALL the Facebook statuses and ALL the Tweets and ALL the Instagram posts. I just want to know what’s going on in everyone’s lives and let them know I care about them and am excited for them and love them. How can I do that if I miss an engagement announcement, or a pregnancy announcement? The horror! This sounds so silly, but it’s how I felt. I was getting burnt out by the endless scrolling I was doing. It was insane. And a month or so ago, I realized I needed to stop, because I was literally scrolling ALL DAY LONG. And for what? For nothing, really.

I took a semi-Instagram break, and it was perfect. It really helped me to reset and realize that I did not need to read ALL THE THINGS. Chances are, if something exciting or sad is happening in a friend’s life, they’re going to be posting about it more than once, and you’re sure to catch one of those posts. Likewise, if you have a friend who you might want to check on to see if something exciting is happening you can – wait for it – simply click on their profile and see if they’ve posted any updates. And dare I say that your friend will probably NOT EVEN NOTICE if you’re not the first like on their big news, or if you even like it at all.

I’ll be the first to admit I have a ways to go with this. The anxiety I feel over social media has faded, but I still have the habit of picking up my phone and opening an app without even noticing it. That’s my next step to change. I’ll be working on putting my phone down more and creating habits of playing and interacting with my kids.

Because social media can wait. My kids can’t.