A break from all the clicks,
a break from dopamine hits.
Social media is so odd,
craving likes and clicks.
Stepping away for awhile,
is like weaning off a drug.
You feel you’re missing out,
how can you live without this love?
The medium is the message,
Neutral? Nope, I disagree.
For in every post we post,
it’s screaming, look at me.
Curating our lives to perform,
our children on display.
Look at their accomplishments,
vicarious parenting might I say?
Oh but there are good things,
I love seeing how are my friends.
Can we not pick up a phone,
or a private message send?
Normalizing busy bodying,
I’m just here to look and scroll.
But do you leave more lifted up,
or filled with angry judgy eye rolls?
Do you leave your scrolling,
inspired, filled, and lifted up?
Comparing your life to curation,
is this real or fake and fluff?
Is their marriage really all,
the post makes it out to be?
Are their children really that wonderful?
Gosh, I suck. Woah is me!
“Wow, so beautiful!” I comment,
at their vacation of my dreams.
When really I want to punch their face,
and rip their picture at the seams.
Posting, scrolling, pick your poison,
they’re both a Venus Fly Trap.
They lure you in with the beauty,
and then catch your heart and Snap!
Does everyone really need to know this?
Does everyone need to see?
Am I venting my full spirit,
like FB is my private diary?
Is my time being used well,
making videos galore?
Am I missing what’s in front of me,
for some “likes” a little more?
Do 1000 friends really know me
whom I share my life so free?
Is my constant scrolling helpful?
Am I enslaved or am I free?
Am I craving the praise of others,
or even singing my own praise?
Is scrolling others lives on a screen,
how I want to spend my days?
Is it neutral, is it not?
Every invention changes us forever.
We can justify all we want,
because we are pretty good at being clever.
Am I meant to hold all the sadness,
and is “being in the know,” good for my inner life?
Do I need to see that video,
of brutality and strife?
Do I have the capacity
in my human limitations.
To hold in my heart these anxieties,
from an age of excess information?
Or can I live a fulfilled life,
quiet, godly, dignified?
With little to no scrolling,
touch the grass and feel alive.
Do I need to always be relevant,
is this hindering how I see truth?
Are my relationships suffering,
my anxieties and anger through the roof?
I am only posing questions,
so please don’t be a hater.
Are we willing to evaluate what is normal,
and check our hearts with our Creator.
It’s hard, I know, to rip the bandaid,
it’s feels like cutting off your hand.
And certain reasons for engagement,
yes, I understand.
But you have permission to disengage,
you have permission to step away.
You don’t need to be in the know.
Live your life in obscurity, it’s OK.
God sees you, God knows you,
your life has meaning, you’re cherished.
He also knows your limitations,
compassion fatigue making you malnourished.
Live life in the present,
smell the roses, touch your toes.
Deep breaths and engagement,
with those you love and know.
There is wholeness in reality,
face to face, and in the flesh.
Is spending time in this space,
leading to your flourishing and best?
-Kerrie DeBerry
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