Music, Instagram, and This Challenge.

Slice of Life '24 2 Minutes

I love this song. Ben’s voice feels like an old and warm blanket wrapped around the shoulders of a 2005 version of myself. Music makes me feel like I’ve lived so many lives, and as I write this letter to you, I wonder what songs do that for you.

Elena, you just fell asleep. I sit here again, hoping I’ll finish this slice and do the most urgent tasks before bed. Maybe tonight, I’ll finally be ready to drift off before 9:30. I run through the things that keep me from bed each night, and in the morning, I begin the negotiations to avoid another battle and a predictable surrender.

My phone’s “wind down” tune interrupts Ben’s singing. I typically ignore it, but it feels like a betrayal to do so while writing about my commitment to go to bed early.

Last month, I knew what kept me up even after going to bed. The scrolling. The senseless, not-my-life-yet-so-addictive scrolling—dopamine hits, one after the other. When I decided to take on this challenge, I did a very adult thing: I decided to redirect my time from scrolling on Instagram to writing, reading, commenting, and connecting. Here’s what I’ve learned in twenty-seven days:

  • It was easier than expected. I thought I’d miss seeing certain accounts or someone’s life-changing event. I probably did, but I guess ignorance is bliss.
  •  My scrolling is directly associated with my purchasing. March 2024 will forever be associated with a drop in our Amazon deliveries.
  •  Instagram isn’t a community for me. Yes, I learn a lot from specialists and experts I follow, but I don’t feel reciprocity. Twitter felt like that for many years until I decided not to go there anymore. I don’t want to abandon Instagram and the family/friend connections, but I want to redefine what I get from it if I choose to spend time there and not doing something else.
  •  It wasn’t until mid-March that I noticed my slight mood change. I consider myself a pretty confident and secure person, yet I was seeing things through too many foreign perspectives, and that gave me anxiety. Every post came singing a “you’re not doing this” tune, and I don’t need that in my life.
  •  Writing and reading other people’s writing brought me much more peace and clarity than seeing the life frames others choose to post.
  •  Lastly, I felt like I was actually doing something rather than passively consuming, which made me ill. Liz’s words from her Big Magic book hunt me regularly, and this month, as I made something every single day, I pictured her smiling at me and [finally] understood what she meant.

Ben sings another tune, a more recent one. My hands rest on the keyboard for a few seconds to fully embrace these uplifting tunes and bring my reflection to a close. There are only a few days left to this challenge, and I’m thinking about what I want to say to you before it ends. Perhaps I’ll move these letters to a handwritten journal and return to the Thursday teaching blog post plan I started in early February. What I know is that, now that Instagram rides in the back seat, I want to save the passenger seat for a more rewarding thing.

Good night, Elena. And good night, Ben!

I wanna know the measure
From here to forever
And I wanna feel the pressure
Of God or whatever
Now it seems more than ever
There’s no hands on the levers
And I wanna feel the pressure
Of God or whatever

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Published by Ana Valentina Patton

I aim to be a learner, not a knower. If I forget, please remind me.

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12 thoughts on “Music, Instagram, and This Challenge.”

  5. How awesome that you have a group of teachers doing the challenge with you! My friend and coworker convinced me to do it this year, and I am so grateful. Thanks so much for your comment!

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  6. You know, I was always very curious about your detox periods, and I wondered if I could pull it off. I’m glad we both did! And you mention writing partners, hah! Ask me tomorrow to show you a comment and link about that exact idea! 😍

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  7. I’m so glad you found this challenge because I enjoy reading your writing! Although I have both Insta and Facebook, I find myself less and less on them. I actually find more pleasure in other things and realize I am not missing out on anything important! Once this challneg ends, I am catching up on some good books.

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  8. Re “I guess ignorance is bliss”…

    Ignorance of lies and deceptions (=most mainstream news and establishment decrees) is bliss because exposing yourself to that is self-propagandization.

    Ignorance of truths is not, or only temporarily or rarely, bliss because it is ultimately self-defeating …. https://johnmichaeldemarco.com/15-reasons-why-ignorance-is-not-bliss

    The FALSE mantra of “ignorance is bliss”, promoted in the latter sense, is a product of a fake sick culture that has indoctrinated its “dumbed down” (therefore TRULY ignorant, therefore easy to control)  people with many such manipulative slogans. Eg…

    ““We’re all in this together” is a tribal maxim. Even there, it’s a con, because the tribal leaders use it to enforce loyalty and submission. … The unity of compliance.”  — Jon Rappoport, Investigative Journalist

    You can find the proof that ignorance is hardly ever bliss (and if so only superficial temporary fake bliss), and how you get to buy into this lie (and other self-defeating lies), in the article “The 2 Married Pink Elephants In The Historical Room –The Holocaustal  Covid-19 Coronavirus Madness: A Sociological Perspective & Historical Assessment Of The Covid “Phenomenon”” …. http://www.CovidTruthBeKnown.com (or https://www.rolf-hefti.com/covid-19-coronavirus.html)

    “Separate what you know from what you THINK you know.” — Unknown

    “If ‘ignorance is bliss’ –there should be more happy people.” — Unknown

    “Ignorance is the bliss of dumb animals.” — Pete, from France

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  9. Oh, Ana, what a sweet reflection and hiphiphooray for what you’re learning this March. I guess I have inadvertently learned of the power of less scrolling. I only have so much time in the day to be online, and this month it really has been more focused on writing and reading and community. Thank you for spelling that out. I love that Instagram has taken a backseat. Perfect and important metaphor. Yes, yes, yes to writing Elena’s letters in your journal. (And/or a weekly SOL at TWT, like Amy suggests.) I just checked out Elizabeth Gilbert’s audio version of her Big Magic book from Libby. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  11. Yes! Most of us can relate to the senseless, addictive act of scrolling. I admire how you channeled that time to something a wee bit more real, more connected — this space. I’ve also found myself more connected to the slicers (here and at my school…we have our own little challenge) because I deleted both instagram and facebook as part of Lent. Great song — love the idea of keeping social media in the back seat — front seat reserved for more precious cargo! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. I made a commitment in January to do a social media detox in a way I hadn’t before. I’ve deleted the apps from my phone, but I’d always check them on Safari or my computer. In January, I committed to not checking them AT ALL. It’s the end of March and I still haven’t redownloaded Instagram. I check it occasionally on safari, mostly just to see if KLA has posted. The purchasing is DEFINITELY something I noticed on my end as well. I stopped desiring to buy random things (clothes, makeup, whatever). The mood shift is palpable. I’m not comparing myself as much anymore (I do that already. Why scroll through an app that makes it extra noticeable?). I’m so glad that you enjoyed your own little detox of it, and I look forward to seeing how your relationship with it changes. I’ve also felt a stronger community through the SOL challenge this year, and I am considering blogging once a week as well. Should we be accountability buddies? (And writing partners?)

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