Why I gave up social media

The short answer is that about five years ago, I came up with a slogan for my life. It was to "Choose my sanity over society". Which meant, if there was something that society told me I was supposed to do but it was causing me my sanity, then I needed to choose my sanity.

For example:

Maybe society is telling you that you need to breastfeed but it is causing you to lose your sanity. Well then, grab some formula and save yourself. It's okay.

Or maybe society is telling you that having a brand new car is way to stay at a certain social level but those payments are causing you your sanity. Then maybe you need to sell the car, buy an older one, and remove some financial burden from your shoulders.

And you know what was costing me my sanity? Social media. Now to be fair, this wasn't a new revelation to me. I had already given up Facebook over a decade ago and never even considered going back. Before that, I had tried Twitter and that lasted all of a month or so. The only thing that I seemed to enjoy was Instagram since it was a platform geared more towards pictures a videos and less about peoples personal rants. Instagram was also the place where I found an amazing homesteading community and tons of resources for gardening and home styling. But it can also a rabbit hole of dooms day scenarios and predictions, trolling, and just overall nonsense. When you enter the world of homesteading, you also enter the world of prepping (which isn't a bad thing, I preserve and prep food too) but it was becoming harder and harder to just enjoy normal daily life. I found myself always stressed out and my anxiety was starting to consume my whole day, every day. I reached a point where I was starting to notice that anxiety creep into my kids, too. I was so worried about the "possibility" of things happening that I couldn't even be present mentally for my family. I was consumed with fear and dread. The thing is, it's important to be aware of the world and our current issues but it is also important to understand that there is a point where you still need to live your life. That point is going to be different for everyone, but for me it was time to give up Instagram.

At first I just deleted the app from my phone. I wanted to see how much I found myself "needing" to reference it or look something up. To my surprise, it was none. Everything that I thought I would need to open the app for, I found just as easily in a google search or by just directly going to someone's website or blog. That made me realize that the app was serving me no actual purpose, just the ability to mindlessly scroll and pass the time that I could be spending with my family or friends. I also found myself being more productive around the home.... imagine that. Lol. So I officially deleted my account and moved on with life.

With all of that said, I am down to only my Pinterest account on my iPad. While some would argue it is also a type of social media, Pinterest isn't based on followers and how many "likes" you get. However, if there were ever a moment where Pinterest stopped allowing recipes, it would be off my tablet quicker than you could say "abracadabra".