Hi friends,
Last month, I decided to take a break from social media. No Instagram, no Twitter, no Facebook, or YouTube. Actually, I stayed on YouTube to continue publishing videos. If you missed any, feel free to check them out. The only change I made on YouTube was pausing my watch history, so my homepage stayed clear. That way, when I opened the app, I didn’t see any suggested videos. Of course I broke my own rule once or twice, still experienced a few changes.
Now, let’s get to it. Here are five lessons I learned from my 30-day detox, which I do at least twice a year:
- Time Slows Down
Without the constant scroll, I gained hours back in my day. I read more and even felt bored during downtime. I also found myself more patient during my daughter’s gymnastics routine before bed (although she’s very creative, and really good at pushing the right buttons).
- Creativity in Silence
I was surprised by how much more I wrote. It didn’t make writing easier, but when my only options were to sit and write or do nothing, writing became more interesting (Neil Gaiman’s rule). I also came up with a ton of YouTube video ideas, something I had struggled with for a while.
- The Fear of Missing Out is Overrated
I didn’t miss much, and no one even noticed I was taking a break.
- Connections IRL
When I used to visit my mom, I would have short conversations with her, then mindlessly scroll on my phone between chats. Recently, though, I found myself having deeper conversations with her. She reminded me of how smart, witty, and confident I was as a child.“And now?” I asked her.“I think all the fighting with the neighborhood kids and stitches in your head took a toll,” was her snarky reply.
- Scrolling Dulls Our Compassion
Our brains aren’t meant to jump from tragedy to memes without consequence. A month ago, my feed would show a child mourning in Gaza, followed by a soccer highlight, and then a meme. Seeing these events one after another dulled my emotional response to the suffering of Palestinians. A destroyed home, a man crying for help, or a politician justifying the endless bombardment on incident civilians became part of my scrolling routine. To be informed and sharing posts on social media is important. But we have recognize the impact our feed have in us. I’m not advocating to look a way or to forget there are people suffering and need our help, but I’m highlighting how normal it has become for us to see them on our feed without feeling the emotional response we once felt last year.
I’m not fully back online yet, and I don’t know when I will be. Part of me wants to return to posting short-form videos on writing and books—that would probably be the only reason I’d download the apps again. But for now, I’m sticking to this newsletter and YouTube.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the noise of social media, a break might be exactly what you need. Unless your source of income comes from there, it’s most likely that you can live without it for a few days. If you do take a break, I would encourage you to journal about it, and everything else, and do let me know of your experience.
Until next time,
— MM
📖 Books I’m reading?
I have been reading a lot lately, jumping from one thing to another. Currently, I’m reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. A colleague of mine swore it was the best book he ever read, so I decided to give it a chance. How do I feel about it? Well, it’s Hemingway!
I’ve also been exploring an interview series available at the New York Public Library called The Last Interview Series. I used to read these a lot in college, often sitting in the back of bookstores, flipping through interview on The Paris Review of authors I never heard of. I just love reading and listening to people talk about their habits, writing processes, and the beautiful yet challenging parts of their craft.
🎧 What am I listening to?
I'm listening to Tim Ferriss’ conversation with Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly wrote a book called *Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier,* which is literally a list of advice written in maxims about how to lead one's life. I have the book on my Kindle, and I flip through it every now and then. This made me think about the last section of this newsletter. Instead of sharing a quote from different people I've been collecting, I think I will share one of these pieces of advice as a quote. If anyone emails me back not liking it, I will go back to the old format.
💎 New From Me
Here is the video I recently posted, and there are one or two you might have missed. If there’s a topic you want me to cover, and I feel I have something valuable to share, I will add it to my list of ideas for future videos. Just reply to this email.
🔖 Quote I’m pondering
“Draw to discover what you see. Write to discover what you think.”
— Kevin Kelly
Source: Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier
📸 Through My Lens
Please give me feedback on the newsletter by replying to this email. Do you find it worth your time? What do you want more or less of? Or other suggestions?
Thank you for reading!
Mohamed