In 2017, unplugging and disconnecting from technology and the social world sounds like the last thing we want to do.
We feel the need to stay up-to-date with the news, which ironically can tend to wear us down. Nevertheless, we scroll through our feeds and timelines and run endless searches for “How can we impeach Donald Trump?” Information overload – it gets exhausting. How are we supposed to bring justice and equality when we’re overstimulated and low on energy?
Our hyperconnectivity can also create unnecessary obstacles along our self-care journey; the important journey that unlocks the ammo for the fight. There’s no way we can stay plugged into every tragedy or scandal in the news while staying sane at the same time.
But I can’t lie, I’m living right along with the 84% of cell phone users who claim they could not go a single day without their device. Detachment from our screens is necessary, and those of us who are dedicated to improving self-care have to learn how to unplug. It’s important for us to learn to power-down with the intent to recharge and refocus internally.
We won’t find solitude outside of ourselves. Solitude is found within and helps keep us grounded in the noisy outer world.
So I challenge you (and myself) to do yourself a favor and look up. There’s an abundance of beautiful, inspiring life happening right in front of our faces, but we have to look up beyond our phones, laptops, and tablets to experience it. Observe our world IRL (in real life).
Unplug long enough to go out and collect information in the real world and use it to create content and solution instead of spending hours of time consuming other people’s content and information. You have something special to contribute. And we need you fully charged to continue to help change this world.