I will treasure this experience always.
Like so many of us, since the US election last November, I haven’t felt great. In no small part because I was looking at my phone and engaging with social media way too much. I felt like the world was going to hell on my phone, and all I could do was watch.
Then, Monday, it hit me: social media, incrementally and then seemingly all at once, screwed up the world.
So why do I keep going to it? Why do I keep contributing to it? Why do I keep subjecting myself to its seductive algorithms? It’s literally mind control.
So I posted a quick announcement that I was getting the hell off, and then got the hell off.
Later, after lunch, instead of doomscrolling, I spent my afternoon break in my backyard with a novel and a crossword puzzle.
Then, I heard honking. My house is not overly close to the main drag of the small California town where I live, but it’s close enough that I could tell that LOTS of cars were honking. Like nonstop.
I thought, “That’s weird.” And it kept happening.
Next, a couple of birds in my orange trees got extra loud, and the neighbors’ dogs started to bark, and it felt pretty clear the Universe was telling me to get off my butt and figure out what the honking was all about.
So I ducked inside, took a quick peek at my phone, and discovered that a demonstration in support of immigrants was going on – and it was walking distance from my house! So I threw my sneakers on and was there in five minutes.
This is what I found:
I wished so much that I had brought a sign. Still, felt so good to be a part of this crowd. These folks were standing up for the families in fear of being separated and the countless other neighbors of mine who no longer feel safe leaving the house.
So many people honked and cheered as they drove by. I was not ashamed to openly cry. They were tears of both sadness – for the necessity of the demonstration – and joy, for the overwhelming sense of solidarity and hope.
The turnout was amazing. I have attended demonstrations in Los Angeles that weren’t as big as this. And my town is small!
Here are some more pictures I took.
I learned some important stuff Monday.
If I hadn’t made the decision to remove my attention from the apps on my phone, I would not have heard the honking, and I would have spend another day feeling lonely, anxious, and ineffective. Instead, I got to see, in three dimensions, people who organized and followed through on their plan to peacefully demonstrate.
These demonstrators showed me that while individually, we might feel disempowered, together, we have agency.
It wasn’t until the next day that I learned that demonstrations like this one took place all over California and Texas on Monday.
In conclusion, let’s put our phones down and let’s look for real world, local opportunities to support immigrants, LGTBQIA+ folks, women’s reproductive rights, and any other vulnerable community or vital cause that is under fire right now.
Let me know your thoughts – are you going to get off of social media too, or maybe just take a break from it?
And I have a request: if you have any resources for real world activism, please share them in the comments below.
My new deck is finally shipping THIS WEEKEND! Get it here.
Closed all accounts in 2018 and haven’t looked back. Hard with friends and family on the other side of the country (usa). Also chanced upon a protest…saturday!! (Oregon). It was awesome. My husband is an immigrant, Hispanic, and proud to be so. It was a beautiful thing to see, the coming together. May people rise up everywhere against evil. Only together are we strong.
I’m going to be a reframing voice…I have finally managed to use my phone now as a source of information and a way to stay in touch with like minded people…to learn about opportunities such as the one you attended (and learned about via your phone you wrote). I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water AND I need to take charge of my use. It isn’t always easy but I am working on making this valuable resource work for me as healthfully as possible.
I appreciate your regular posts and other offerings…been following you a long while now. Thanks for the great heartful energy you put into our world. 💕🙏🏻
I live in Vanc BC and yes, we are threatened, but media just makes it worse. I don’t belong to any social media and stay away from the news. Get off that phone and do something more constructive.
Oh Tess! I SO RELATE! I’m not usually one to doomscroll (and consciously limit my screen time ) but as a gentle Canadian who tries to put only light in the world, I found myself falling into a hole of bewilderment, hurt and discouragement when the country I so love was being seriously threatened by a deranged, dark soul named Trump. The stress and horror that we have felt as Canadians (who believed the ” words of impending war “) brought closer the reality that your compatriots who you were demonstrating with must feel. I was glued to my phone but something in me said STOP and I instead forced myself outside ( in the snow ) and went for a gratitude walk! As I breathed the crisp air and marveled at the snow sparkling like a carpet of glitter, I started to feel the squeezing in my heart ease. If I find myself turning to my phone again I will limit it to blogs like yours and remember that there are so many blessings and positivity in the world. Xo from Canada ❤️
I closed my accounts and left social media a few years ago. I have not missed it.