40 days off Social Media
Some people start the new year with resolutions and goals or one specific word that they use to set their year up with intention and purpose. This year as a church we were called to fast for 40 days! To deny our flesh of something in order to draw closer to God. I knew immediately that staying off Social Media was something God called me to do as a part of this fast. Instagram specifically, is something that I bring to God in prayer often, in order to keep my relationship with that app healthy. I knew staying away from it for 40 days was something that I had never done but it was going to be so so good.
In 2022, I had such a love/hate relationship with Social Media. I had slowly started turning down collaborations, sponsorship, and stepping back from this “mom influencer” title that I fell into when I was pregnant with Jax in 2016. I didn’t know why I felt the need to step back other than it was starting to consume my thoughts, my time, and if I can be completely honest, my wallet. It brought moments of contention into my marriage and parenting because I was on my phone more than I needed to be and had a hard time setting it aside. 2022 was also when I decided to finally download TikTok…. oh what a rabbit hole that app can be. This is embarrassing to admit but I actually scrolled on that app so much one night that a video popped up from the actual TikTok account encouraging me to stop scrolling and take a break. EMBARRASSING!!
brb social media! 👋🏽
After one full week of fasting Social Media, I looked at something on my phone that I rarely look at, and I know I can’t speak for you but I bet it’s something you rarely look at too. I wish I had taken a screenshot because my screen time went down by 82% and my time spent on Social Media went down by 25 hours! Y’all… that meant I was spending a whole day a week scrolling and pushing out content (let’s face it… I was mainly scrolling) on the Social apps on my phone, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok! That’s 52 days a year spent scrolling!!! Y’all… take a pause right now and go to your settings and look at your screen time. Take a quick assessment of the time spent on your phone and where you spend it most and then come back and finish reading this post.
I literally gained a whole day each week by simply staying off social media. 😮
About halfway through my 40-day fast people who were close to me asked how it was going and said they missed seeing me on IG. I kept it real and told them it was hard and I missed it. I also added, “I don’t know if I am coming back, God hasn’t said anything to me yet.” But I missed connecting with people I had cultivated relationships with by simply following their life, replying to stories, and sending DMs back and forth. I missed connecting with real-life friends who choose to use social media as their main form of communication. I felt off the grid. I was unaware of news stories and what was going on in pop culture. There would be moments Fabian would ask me, “hey did you see that video from so and so… ?” And I would respond like a toddler, throwing my hands up and sighing, “ no, of course, I didn’t see that!”
Another thing I noticed was a decrease in my spending, let’s face it… mindless spending on things I didn’t need. The power of influencing and ADs were no longer taking hold over my Target circle app. And without someone telling me to “run to the store” or “you need this in your life now” I simply wasn’t making any unnecessary purchases. This moment brought me to repentance too because I’ve been a part of the influencing community, sharing my loves and must-haves with y’all and adding to the consumer mentality that we’ve all been sucked into.
At the end of my 40-day fast, I was truly content being off social media. It wasn’t hard and it wasn’t something I missed. If God asked me to step away from it for good, it would be easy to deactivate and delete. But God didn’t say that. He asked me to edit my Facebook friends down to family only. He asked me to unfollow accounts that weren’t feeding my spirit or had a strong influence on me and my role in stewarding our finances. That’s right… believe it or not but I unfollowed @targetdoesitagain !!!
In praying about my return back to Instagram I felt God wanted me to return with a purpose and focus and not just to simply share my Amazon storefront. This past Sunday Pastor Ford called out Social Media Influencers in the room. He asked us to stand up and although feeling a little embarrassed, I stood up, still unaware of how God was going to use me on the platform that He has given me. As members of the church started to pray over me I felt the presence of God hit me, something that I was willing to step away from was now shifting into a place that I am being sent into. I went back and listened to the prayer from Pastor Ford and wrote it out as a vision for what my Instagram [and this blog] will be.
“@beeaninspiration will be a place where I will be known for Who I follow and not for who follows me. My Instagram feed would be a place known for the cloud of God’s presence that surrounds me and my family. It will be a place that calls people out of darkness and into His light. The influence of the Kingdom of Heaven will guide collaborations and sponsorships. And I will influence with the love of God and encounter people with the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Even after feeling a charge hit my spirit to come back to Social Media with a stronger purpose than before, I am still totally willing to let it go. I will hold onto it lightly knowing that it’s no longer mine, it’s from Him, to use for His purpose and His glory.
