I recently took another much needed social media break. I’m 25 for context and first started social media at age 11 or 12 on MySpace and before that AIM. Much of my identity has been online and i realized how much I rely on it for validation.
Humans are social creatures and I love sharing things with others. When I see my friends we usually talk and talk for hours on end and I get a lot of my best ideas from looking at how others live and things I’ve never considered.
But social media has felt toxic for me. I feel how much my own sense of self worth is tied into what I post and if I don’t get enough of a response, I feel like I’m no one. Or that I’m not cool or trendy enough (never was tbh haha).
When does sharing become less about opening up to others and more about bragging, keeping up an image, trying to convince yourself that you have worth, etc?
I’ve been reading a lot of books about mindfulness and living intentionally and I’ve already made some big steps quite naturally for the past few years but realized how caught up I’ve been with portraying an image. And how much time I’ve wasted comparing myself to others and feeling inadequate.
And since I’ve turned over this new leaf, no you don’t have to agree with me or validate my choices. I moreso want to hear how others have increased their self esteem and worth INTERNALLY as opposed to externally. Would love any advice!
Submitted July 19, 2018 at 11:19AM by __hrrr https://ift.tt/2NsAssE
