A Lesson In Authenticity Brought To You By Wanderlust, Prozzak and Social Media.
I met a super inspiring human at Wanderlust!
Susan Agrioshas an impressive background and bio (you can read it here: http://www.agriosmindfitness.com/about). But, what I was most impressed with, was her outlook on things.
At first, from her lecture my main takeaway was that we can be more mindful and present in our lives through different techniques, mostly breathing. She spoke on many other things, but at the time, they weren’t really relevant to me… or so I thought.
Last week my husband and I went to a concert. This concert was pretty iconic to me. When I was younger I wasn’t really into live music but one of my favourite bands came to my city and my mom actually won me and my friend backstage tickets. Not a bad set up for your first concert experience hey!
When I heard that same band, Prozzak, was coming again, almost 20 years later, I had to get tickets. I was excited for this massive blast from the past; It’s ironic because the name of the concert was literally “The Rewind Tour”.
I am not a big concert person. I think I have been to maybe 3 other concerts in my entire life. The last concert I went to before this one, was a few years ago when we traveled to Edmonton to see Katy Perry. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds! It was also really fun because it was mostly younger people and kids there.
There is a point to all this back story and concert talk, I promise, just hang tight for a bit more.
At Wanderlust Susan mentioned that the main thing causing disconnect in our society is the fact that we are living life through a lens. In my notes from the lecture I wrote, ‘we are watching live bands through our phones’.
Wanderlust was back in August. A few months prior to that I graduated from a business academy in which we were extensively taught the importance of Social Media. How many times a day to post, the types of content to reach the most people, even the exact time of day to post if you want to reach the best audience. We learnt how to block schedule your workweek so that you could maximize your time creating, and curating, content. Essentially, if you aren’t on your phone and mass utilizing Social Media, good luck being a successful business owner, was what we were taught. So back in early August I didn’t see the issue of using our phones 24/7 as part of life because I viewed it as a normal, acceptable, business tool.
Ok, so back to the Rewind Tour!!!!
Prozzak wasn’t the main act, Aqua was. I was mainly there for Prozzak, unlike 95% of everyone else who only cared about the Danish superstars. As soon as Aqua came on everyone around us jumped up with their phones in hand to get the perfect snap, IG story and/or concert selfie…. This phones up phenomenon lasted the entire set. It even seemed like the only reason some people were there, was to get the perfect social media proof that they attended the concert. This was a huge eye opener for me. At that moment I had a, ‘fuck this’ reaction.
If you know me personally you know I didn’t post anything on my Socials while at the concert. I didn’t even take one single picture. To this day, there is no proof that I was even there.
My husband can vouch for the fact that I sometimes have an on/off mentality like a light switch. This was one of those times.
I couldn’t believe that people were more focused on their phones than they were of the art unfolding in front of them. At Wanderlust when Susan mentioned this exact example I didn’t believe her because I didn’t experience this phenomenon at the last concert I was at.. Because I was surrounded by a bunch of little kids and their parents. This was a big aha moment for me. What 5-10 year old is going to obsess about plastering Katy Perry to their IG account? DUHHH SJ!
The concert was on Wednesday. Thursday I posted on my Socials, but it didn’t feel as authentic as it has in the past. So I took a social media break.
When you are in a situation it’s hard to see it for what it really is. We need to step back in order to let it go and have an objective view. This is the main paradigm of coaching, so I know how true and powerful it is. So I took action and took myself out of the situation at hand and had a mini SM holiday.
Don’t get me wrong, I think SM can be really awesome. Who doesn’t love a funny kid meme every now and again? I love sharing knowledge. I love helping people think outside of their negative conditioning with my posts. The thing I don’t love, is letting things like algorithms and such dictate to me how/when I should participate in this. I don’t like the pressure that I then put on myself to curate and create content that will play into what this algorithm wants.
Also, I’m human, and I know I can get sucked into the mindless scrolling habit of SM which doesn’t serve me, which means it doesn’t serve anyone in my life whom I want to inspire. Plus, we all know I am not good at the cute, quick, posts. My posts read more like a blog… hence why we are here on my Blog right now ;)
· Social Media Light Switch On SJ= posting daily, stressing over what things I should showcase on my IG stories and having a small fear about being judged for what she’s posting.
· Social Media Light Switch Off SJ = having more productive time in my day, connecting more powerfully with my clients and those people who value my outlook without judgment, but feeling a bit like she is not honoring her mission in life by shining her light and allowing people to think outside of the box.
Balance is the sweet spot in life, this is something I am realizing when it comes to how I want to show up in the digital world.
I think the Socials are a great way to connect with people on a different level. Through SM I have gotten some amazing friendships and insight. I am not deleting all my Socials and falling off the face of the digital world. It’s about balance right! Instead, I am going to step back a bit from the amount of time/energy I put into my SM presence.
Since I was a kid I have always liked to write. I never thought I was any good at it, or that I had anything important to say, but writing has been feeling super authentic to me as of late.
Writing this blog felt effortless, yet important. I actually wasn’t even going to post this, but then I thought to myself, ‘Girl! What if someone else is in a similar situation and this is the thing they need to read in order to empower themselves to follow their authentic path in life?’
That inner dialogue inspired me to not only write this blog, but to put more time and effort into blogging in the future.
When you say yes to one thing you are automatically saying no to another. Moving forward I am saying no to spending so much energy on my Socials. By saying no to so much time and energy on the Socials I am now gifting myself the opportunity to say YES to letting my authentic self flow with my blog writing.
Isn’t it SUPER interesting how things show up to teach us the exact lessons we need in order to grow forward?
Cheers till next time.
SJ
