Breaking away from social media – By Kate Priestley

So, going to what this post is about, around a month ago, before leaving our previous home, I felt such strong body signals that I needed to get off social media – that is Instagram and Facebook. That it was becoming far too much of a distraction and taking my energy. I was really feeling how unhealthy it was for me and could feel my body contract a lot whenever I decided to ‘jump quickly’ onto a platform which, of course, always ends up taking more time than expected as it can be so addictive. 

Just saying, this is my personal experience and not necessarily someone else’s. Indeed, the platforms have felt useful for me before, I liked maintaining the connections I had and sharing my creativity and what inspires me in life. Maybe someone will read this and relate this to their own experiences. It’s just where I am in my life right now and knowing there are more pressing things I really need to be getting on with in my life.

Often, I don’t necessarily think that much beforehand whether I need to take part in something or not or else it comes too much from the mind. It’s a feeling I get in my gut, that arises spontaneously, which is my cue that I should strongly listen to especially when it becomes too obvious an energetic breech is happening or I need to make a change to my circumstances. Then it doesn’t take me long to take action. Sure, it had been in the back of my mind often that these platforms aren’t very healthy for me and that, as I’m sure many of you know, they are deeply corrupted but I didn’t yet have the inclination to get off them.

Of course, many people are using these platforms with very good intentions and those genuine people (both I knew personally and not) I would miss the posts and interactions of but it was just the time for me to go. We are all still connected in other ways. Also, as someone who is curious minded, I had this mental ‘need’ that I needed to find out more about what is going on in this world by seeing through the windows of other people/organisations’ posts. Getting too caught up on alternative channels about politics, war and other terrible happenings. It’s not pretty a lot of it… I think by now I have enough of a gauge on it and don’t need to be so caught up in it at the expense of the positive stuff I could be putting out into the world instead.

To be honest, it felt a bit of a big deal for me to get off these platforms because, as an artist and admirer of beauty, I enjoyed sharing my creations and inspirations. I had a real attachment to social media and had that idea pushed onto me that it would be hard to succeed as an artist if I didn’t have social media which is such a limited way of doing things. I had fears of ‘who would see my art?’ At least I have Sun Beings and my own personal website though, right? Also, I guess I would just have to trust it will work out somehow. It was time to put down the fears of the mind and honour what I really felt deep inside. I was feeling strongly how the cons of social media were starting to largely outweigh the pros.

I had been noticing more how increasingly addictive these platforms were getting. They have changed a lot as in the beginning more people showed interest in my artwork compared to now plus the platforms didn’t have such an addictive quality to them. It was easier before to jump on then jump off. They are constantly installing ways that keep you hooked for longer whilst also making it harder for you to get seen, which is not good for those who try make their living through these platforms.

It is a massive numbers game for many users as quantity over quality of followers seemed to matter more. I noticed how they kept creating new ways that you could boost your algorithms which, for me personally, felt like trying to jump through tall hoops that really went against the grain of the way you may like to share or express yourself. Yet many people get self-defeating putting their hands up saying ‘that’s just the way it is!’ and go along with it all. Also, for more success, quantity of posts began to matter too much rather than whether you truly felt it in your heart to share. I didn’t really personally use these algorithm methods, but saw the discomfort of other people who tried and without even much success. Then there is the issue of how much money they must have been investing to sponsor their posts too in order to get seen. Especially, as I had been doing website and graphic design for a while, which inevitably involved marketing, I saw the difficulties my clients had of wanting to share their gifts to an online audience but being totally let down because the social media giants were dictating too much how they should share and whether they would even get seen.

More and more, whenever I opened these platforms, I would just energetically feel so much noise of many people trying to get seen, make their living, get their voices/opinions heard, or in many cases feed their fixed large ego and identity complexes. It is saddening how the platforms are negatively infiltrating many peoples’ minds including those of much younger generations. Giving them thoughts/identities that are clearly not their own yet getting them to believe it is. Now it’s like the platforms have become so huge and are bursting at the seams with the amount of competitiveness, mental noise or investment of energy that is on there now. 

As for the kind of posts I even saw? They often disappointed me. Not necessarily because I was disappointed in what people I followed were sharing but because of the amount of sponsored or suggested posts that kept getting thrown at me. Usually posts that have gained such a traction in their algorithm meaning the most addictive posts were being pushed to the top. It honestly felt like energetic infiltration. I never asked for these promoted posts, especially at this large a scale, from channels I didn’t even ask to follow. Even if I tried to select options saying I want to see less of these kind of posts then instead they started showing me other types of posts. Often getting dumber and dumber in their topics yet with that annoying addictive quality to them.

I would frequently feel utterly drained, zombified and like I lost my sense of self when I thought I would just quickly jump onto these platforms. Like I had just interacted with an energy harvesting machine sucking me into another dimension. My boundaries were being too crossed. And yet it seemed the people I really wanted to see the posts of were barely showing. Many artists I used to enjoy the posts of and find inspiring disappeared behind the curtain of static.

Often, I might have gone on a platform for a specific purpose then totally forget what I was meant to be doing. Or I might have been about to do something then thought I’ll just glance at social media and then also forget what tasks I’m meant to be doing. It was getting very bad for my memory and focus I noticed. I saw how I seemed to come out of my body and out of time. Even if I wasn’t necessarily on the platforms much, I could still somehow feel this infiltration in me just having the option to check them. 

Not to mention all this creepy AI technology rearing its head that was making me feel extremely uneasy and unsafe. No alternative platforms that were supposedly more ethical were really appealing to me either. When I did try them out, I would end up with strange people following or interacting with me. 

In general, though, I have felt within myself the need to step more away from technology. I still have much use for it but now I use it less and more efficiently than I did before. Being around laptops and phones too much (and TV too but that’s a thing of the distant past for me), especially if connected to WIFI, affects my field more these days. Maybe many unaware folk will think I’m crazy but I for one absolutely can feel the effects of EMFs on my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual body. For a long time now, my phone is mostly on airplane mode unless I need to use it.

I’ve seen too how much technology, especially phones, have negatively impacted people. Creating many addictive tendencies and demanding people, services, entertainment and things available instantly via their phone. It really has created a pandemic of impatience, fear, emotional insecurity, mental chatter and short attention spans. Life becomes too fast paced, urgent and overwhelming when we are not able to stop and breathe. Our nervous systems become far too activated and on edge.

Many are unable to face themselves or go within as instantly they turn to their phones for consolation in various forms. Not just unable to go within but also unable to connect to their outer environment properly. Some of these tendencies were coming to light for myself and I naturally found myself wanting to change them. I mean, yes, it’s okay to use the phone for some entertainment, information, connecting with others or consolation or whatever but when it becomes constant, addictive and taking over your life, you know there’s an imbalance going on. That’s up to us to observe and to be honest with ourselves about.

Don’t even get me started too how so many technology systems often malfunction or become overly secure creating a whole host of problems, time wasting and stress. Too much dependency has been created with technology especially of the AI kind. One example here is inputting our address here in Spain if we needed to order something. Many times, a website won’t recognise the address of the postal place we send things to and rejects it. No longer can a human being just look at the address and use their brain to know where it is. I could go on!

Anyway, technology complaints aside, when I made the definite decision to leave and notified or spoke with people which took some days, I felt the major anticipation to leave like there was a dirty energy I really wanted to clear from my field. Finally, when I deactivated my Instagram and Facebook accounts, I felt like a huge weight had lifted off me. Like I suddenly was coming more back into my body. It was such a strange feeling and could feel the peace and presence wash over me. And a better awareness of my surroundings.