By Ashlyn Kimes
For this generation, our lives have existed in the online world. We are consumed in likes, tags, and comments. This is no way to live a healthy lifestyle. As humans, we tend to please other people to ensure that we are accepted into their group. But what about you? What about your mental state?
To maintain self care, self love, and healthy surroundings, we first need to take a step back and breathe. Especially during a time such as this, so many young people are speaking out so passionately on what they believe in. It is so important to use our platforms and our voices to invoke change in this world, but it is also important to remember that every once in a while, it’s okay to take a step back and rest. People need a well rested mind if they want to change the world.
From my perspective as a seventeen year old girl, I know how difficult social media can be sometimes, especially during a time where we are stuck in our homes and our phones become our only way of communication with the outside world. We look at these pictures of models and celebrities that have the “perfect” body, life, feed, etc…and once we see these pictures we think to ourselves and say, “why don’t I look like that?”
So we try to post those kinds of pictures and start to look at the comments and likes. We obsess over it. It can be consuming. Not only do we obsess over others opinions, we obsess over our own. We can be our best friend and we can also be our worst enemy. We get sucked into the whirlpool of social media not because of others and how much we care about what they think.
How do we not let it take over? Well it’s not that simple. For myself, I would say to take a social media detox; leave your phone somewhere else and only follow accounts that make you feel good and give you happy vibes. Every person in this world is completely unique from another and we get to control how we live. If Instagram controls our life, it’s because we allow it to. So don’t let that happen! If comments are what keeps us from being who we want to be, then stop letting them. So take control of the steering wheel and guide it in the direction that is right for you.
