Social Media and Nature have this in Common
Mindfully Attending to Isolation
I think you would agree that social media and Nature feel like polar opposites. One sucks you into a mind-numbing scroll fest, leaving you feeling lethargic, jealous and shameful. The other, opens your heart, mind, soul, and feels instantly calming.
How could the two ever have anything in common?
Let me back up…
The other day, I sat on the dock of the lake house I’m housesitting at, feeling alone and isolated. Even though there was so much beauty around me, I couldn’t help but feel completely disconnected from this majesty.
I decided to take some time to close my eyes, focus on my breath, and meditate.
After 10 or so minutes, I opened my eyes, and just as they opened, I saw a fish come up for an instant to grab its insect dinner and go back under.
The quick little *bloop* of the fish poking its mouth out of the water, created a tiny ripple. As I let my eyes relax from the tiny area where the fish’s mouth popped out to the whole scope of the lake in front of me, I noticed the ripples emanating outward, getting bigger and bigger, until they hit the shore.
In the midst of the wide open focus and post-meditation awareness, I could literally feel the energy of the ripples wash over me.
In that instance, I realized I was absorbing the energy of the fish…
…and suddenly I didn’t feel so alone.
The isolation dissipated as I became aware of the affectionate touch of the wind, the laughter of the trees, the dancing of tiny bugs on the surface of the water.
It filled me up with immense appreciation, feeling deeply connected to everything around me.
The profound feeling of interconnectedness.
Coming back to the thought or the visual of posting and scrolling on social media, you might feel an instant *ick.*
But what I’ve realized in posting reels and stories on Instagram, is that we’re all just trying to feel less alone! We want to prove and have proof that we exist in this world - that we matter and are worthy.
Unfortunately, social media tends to make us feel isolated. And, as I said before, it makes us feel jealous and shameful and depletes our energy.
But the original reason for social media was to connect!
Each time you see a post or video, you’re taking on the energy of the little *bloops* and then the ripple of said energy people are putting out in the world - and that might make you feel supported, connected, energized OR the opposite as I’ve already described.
So where do we go from here?
Get rid of social media? Go live off grid? Something else radical?
No. We mindfully attend to what is.
We get quiet so we can become aware of our thoughts, emotions and body sensations.
Then, in being with these thoughts, emotions and body sensations, we open ourselves to connecting more and isolating less in whatever context that is presented to us in the present moment.
Becoming more and more aware of what is around us and within us, is useful in connecting to our true nature, and also being able to connect with the world and others mindfully.
Feeling your capacity to connect, allows for the connection to nature or to other humans to fill you up, charge your battery, and make you feel less isolated, less alone, and maybe a little more confident, empowered and worthy.
From this confident, empowered, and worthy stance, you can then choose to follow, unfollow, interact with or not, and then decide on what a tiny next step might be for you to feel more connected in this wild world.
Let me know what your takeaway is from this post and what your next tiny step is 🙂
To connecting mindfully,
Leanna
