Disconnected week is over & this post will consist of my discoveries and what documenting my life through media means to me. In order to keep track of my week, I used my own note sheet to write out some notes on what was going on during my week and also the app EveryMe to privately post statuses of how I'm feeling to myself. It was an extremely long week for me and I was glad that I finally decided to be offline for a little while.
For the first few days, I felt a lot more relaxed than usual, but overall it wasn't as different as I thought it would be. The only major change I noticed was the fact that I was much more tired earlier than normal. In the middle of the week, I loved being able to communicate directly with my family and best friend, reading a book, and trying to get my journal in order. Although, I wasn't too happy about the fact that I had a lot of e-mails to take care of and things to get done. I was trying not worry about it, but I had deadlines. (Unfortunately, some of my work is never done). The rest of the week, I slept earlier for a couple of days and spent more time with my family.
I will admit to slightly cheating for the first few days by using the internet to search or send a few messages because it was the only way to contact some people, but can you blame me? I've been using the internet almost every day since I discovered it existed. I couldn't cut off ALL internet access all at once.
I learned a lot of important things this week. I learned that sometimes spending too much time engaging in social media will overwhelm you. I learned that actually spending time with the people you love is a lot better than communicating online and that it's okay to text or instant message sometimes. Plus, the biggest lesson I learned this week is that the best thing about memories is MAKING THEM!
That brings me to explaining what documenting my life means to me. Well, I love social networks and the ability to share little glimpses of your life with your friends & family. However, through the years the purpose and concept of these social networks has been lost and now it's become more of a popularity contest by getting the most likes or retweets. That's not what social networks are for, they should be for sharing positive aspects of your life or "documenting your life through media". To me, it means to share my life's moments with those I still try to stay in touch with. I want people to have little glimpses of me and my life and I'll always continue to share that. Although, I'll try to refrain from using the internet and social media all the time.
xoxo,
xoxo,