no social media challenge

I've seen other people participate in this type of challenge. Or more often eschew their social media in the wake of a recent embarrassing event. The only embarrassment I've suffered lately is the amount of time I dedicate to mindlessly scrolling through my feeds, urged along by little blips of euphoria here and there that never quite scratch that itch I seem to have. And of course it never will. I know that. And yet I keep scrolling. And in the meantime, what am I missing? Surely something. I spent 24 years of my life without a smart phone and the constant ability to lose myself in the fake lives of others. I must have been doing something for all that time. Well here's what I used to do:

I used to read more
I used to exercise more
I used to ride my bike
I used to write in my diary
I used to reorganize or clean things on a whim
I used to practice dancing
I used to alter clothing
I used to write letters

Also how did I go to bed before I had a smart phone? Or wake up for that matter? Even if I've been partying all night and I'm drunk as a skunk I still need my weird YouTube videos to help me fall asleep. In the morning, the first thing I do is check my notifications on my Instagram and Facebook to see if anything interesting happened in the last few hours. I feel like this can't be healthy. I feel like there is some real life stuff happening right in front of me that I'm missing out on. So I'm embarking on a journey: a social media free life. For 31 days I will refrain from sneaking into my Facebook feed while I'm standing in line at the grocery store, or catching up in my Instagram stories while I'm waiting for my burrito at the Mexican food place. I'm not going to obsessively swipe though postings while I'm waiting for my friend to join me at the bar or check to see if anyone tagged me in those photos from the concert last night. I'm going to see what kind of impact I can have on my life by simply deciding to remain in the present.

Well actually, I'm going to go a little further than that. I recently listened to a podcast by two women who read and followed a book called, The Miracle Morning. Apparently the guy is a real dick bag and the book is terrible (one of the women absolutely despised the routine that he sets out for his reader) but I've decided that I'm going to give it a go. Most of the things outlined in his daily plan are things I've always wanted to do but never found the motivation to actually accomplish. Without the distraction of social media, and an audience to see me through (that's you), I want to see if I can actually complete this challenge I've set out for myself.

Part of the challenge is to spend a portion of every day writing. With that time, I am going to post a daily blog to let you guys know how well (or poorly) this is going. If the posts get boring and repetitive I may cut them down to one every few days. We'll see how it goes. I'm starting the challenge on July 1st but I will not be posting daily links on Facebook (duh) so be sure to check back here every day in the month of July, or subscribe to my blog, so you don't miss out on the action. I know that this is going to be a challenge for me. Probably even more than I think it's going to be. But I'm up for it. I'm ready for a change. Let's do this.