Mallory O’Neal
March 13th – A day that shall live in infamy as Facebook and its beloved affiliates, Instagram and WhatsApp, were shut down for several hours. Many found themselves struggling with the lack of habitual distraction they so easily run too in a moment of freedom. As hard as it is to recall, there was a time not long ago where we as a society could sit and think, imagine, daydream, and process emotions without the lure of distraction to see what others are thinking, imagining, or processing.
What would it look like for you to take a day off from the distraction of social media and the mini devices that take our attention from the events, feelings, and people literally around us? Would the symptoms of withdrawal or FOMO might be too much to bear, and would you feel a sense of relief without the pressure to “know” everything as it’s happening in real time? What would it take for you as to create spaces, minutes, hours or days, where you could start that new hobby you’ve been talking about, meditate, read a book, or call someone to catch up? Time is the element we all wish we had more of, but since we are finitely restrained to 24 hours a day we must be intentional about carving out some of said time to do the things we often neglect for the “to do” of social media. I for one am thankful for the server malfunction that gave many the gift of time and space to explore intentionality, creativity and genuine connection even if it was only for a couple of hours.
