When I was younger, our version of Facebook was stacks of photo albums in the living room. We gladly pulled them out to show our guests when we entertained and used them as a source of family amusement when we were alone. I don’t recall seeing pictures of family feuds or moments when we were broken. We didn’t take pictures of meatless meals when our parents could not afford more.
The fact is more often than not, we humans have documented the good and the beautiful in our lives. We document what we want to remember not what we choose to forget. The albums were meant to be memories of the milestones, the markers and points in time we were smiling and doing something wonderful. They help to give us hope during melancholy seasons that one day that smile will return. They remind us that things were never all bad.
We berate social media all the time for the way it has handcuffed this generation to its varied electronic devices, but I believe it has its place. As an immigrant my best friends are thousands of miles away and yet they feel reachable. Our posts are often used as reminders to check in and have actual conversation. Like the photo albums in my childhood living room, the posts become an invitation for a deeper conversation.
I can’t tell you how much inspiration and strength I’ve drawn from strangers posting an inspirational thought or post in what seems like divine timing. Oh how powerful the process of learning when nuggets of facts and truth are posted. Social media is rich with the potential to learn and grow. I am learning to use it wisely.
The scripture in Prov 16:27 says: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. This truth can be applied to so many things but let’s think about it in the context of social media. Have you, like me, ever been guilty of scrolling aimlessly through feeds when there are a million more productive things to do. Idling, procrastinating, disengaging from your current life, whatever the choice of word, its opening the gateway of our minds to more clutter. It gives our enemy more ammunition to distract us from the important things, to throw you off your plans and open up an avenue for unhealthy comparison.
With that I’m challenging myself for the next month to be intentional about my social media use. My theme word for this year is discipline, because I need that to accomplish all the things on my vision board this year. So, timer on Kavanaugh! You have a maximum of 1 hour to check your usual platforms for updates. Notifications off. Are you coming with me? Let’s do this.
I like the fact that you frame it from the perspective of capturing memorable moments and maintaining authentic relationships. So it’s not a substitute for but a supplement to all the other ways we engage in meaningful interactions. Like other tools and technologies, it’s a matter of how we use them wisely as well as whether we use them for negative or positive purposes.
Brilliant and Beautiful Kavanaugh….
Specially the lines, ‘They help to give us hope during melancholy seasons that one day that smile will return. They remind us that things were never all bad’
I still print my pics and put in the albums as it gives the same amusement to my kids as it did for me as a child.
Awesome. Timer on for the next hour. I will also challenge myself for the next one month.