Why You Must Unplug To Find Your Joy

You may not even realize you do this, but, have you noticed that when you’re feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or just plain bummed-out…

you head straight to the social media apps on your phone, and begin scrolling + searching for something to cheer you up. (I do it too!)

Maybe you scroll through Facebook, then Twitter, checking the trending news feed, which gets you more bummed out, or mad, or sad.

So you head over to Instagram and maybe you like a few things, but it’s not enough. You scroll more. You watch a few Instagram stories.

You click back to Facebook. Maybe someone commented on your previous post.

But nothing. Except you see an actor post about a job they booked.

You don’t even have auditions.

You begin to feel worse.

Then someone in your home asks you a question. You get irritated.

You say, “Hold on, I’m just looking at something.”

You keep scrolling. Searching. For something. You have no idea what.

It’s addicting. It’s avoidance. It’s actually keeping you from moving forward.

You may think you’re trying to cheer yourself up, but here’s the truth:

Yes. Your JOY is not hiding on any social media feed. UNPLUG + notice how you feel.

And by unplug, I mean actually sit with the feelings + notice them.

In fact, this week, pledge to just sit with your feelings the next time you go to reach for your phone.

Ask yourself:

What feeling am I trying to avoid?
What if I just stayed with this feeling?
What might I discover just by being in this moment?

See how many stoplights (or subway stops) you can go through and NOT reach for your phone.

Count how many deep breaths you can take, instead of social media platforms you can check.

It may feel weird at first. But what you’ll come to discover is that you can find joy again, rather quickly, when you stop distracting yourself from dealing with your feelings.

Because when you start finding joy, joy starts finding you.

So this week, instead of scrolling + searching:

Unplug. Breathe. Be in the moment.

And when you feel like getting back on your phone, then leave a comment below + let me know what shifted for you.

Here’s to a week of finding joy in your real life and feeling all the feels.

Love + Gratitude,
– Wendy