Did you ever watch The Morning Show, with Jennifer Anniston & Reece Witherspoon? Honestly, I’m not much of a TV person but I love these women and I’m obsessed with the show. There’s this scene where Jennifer Annistons character, Alex Levy, exits her regular life as a glamorous News Reporter and shuts herself away from the world to a log cabin in the woods where she writes her book.
As I was watching the scene unfold, seeing her shape-shift from the perfectly curated and immaculate woman that everyone knew, into a creative being lost in her writing, complete with her four legged companion, cosy jumpers and a roaring log fire…Ok, I may have added the fire bit , I can’t actually recall, but you get the point! Well, all I could think at the time was “Wouldn’t that be incredible?!”
Whilst it’s potentially leaning a little hard into the arena of idealistic, It does remind me of a post that I frequently stumble upon on social media that boldly suggests “disappearing for 6 months” to focus on your goals. It even offers up a list that is designed to shut out all the noise, recommending you delete all social media apps and go all in on you, your health, your wellbeing, your goals and your dreams.
Something tugging at my soul…
Whilst I’m someone who is already extremely driven towards their goals and dreams, I see this post and it tugs at something in my soul. Every time it pops up, I feel a deeper yearning to switch off, to disconnect from the online world of post and scroll, and just be. To have just a little more headspace and breathing room for creativity to flow and maybe even have a little boredom creep in… Now that I think about it, I can’t recall the last time I even had the luxury of being bored. It sounds kind of delicious, even for an afternoon.
And despite my goal oriented nature, my relentless work ethic and my tenacity - I’m not achieving the one thing that is the closest to my heart. Because right now, I am writer that isn’t writing. A painful omission if not a liberating one. I have countless books inside of me, all yearning to be birthed into the world, none of which I’m actively working on. And it’s becoming harder for me to ignore. Every stumbling block, moment of uncertainty or wrong turn is met with repeated cries of “Just write!” each one louder than the last.
But as a Mumma & Step Mum to my beautiful blended family of 5, with a coaching business and as the co owner of a restaurant, The Chubby Frog, I’m seriously struggling to find the time to “just write” . All the while, the coach in me is rebuffing my “I have no time!” storyline with “You don’t find time, you carve out time.”
It’s a frustrating, noisy, repetitive loop. And honestly? I’m done with it.
Taking Radical Responsibility
Did you know that the average person in the UK spends 2 hours and 23 minutes daily on social media? And honestly, mines probably higher given that I create and publish content for both businesses, sometimes collectively posting 4-5 times a day.
Think about that for a second. What would you do if suddenly you had an “extra” 2 hours and 23 minutes a day? Or more?!
Now don’t get me wrong, this is not an anti social media article, that’s not where I’m headed with this. I don’t believe that social media is either good nor bad, it’s how you use it and how it makes you feel that truly matters. Personally, I think it’s a wonderful tool to connect, create, share & grow - but it should be just that - a tool. The key to it being that you use social media, not social media uses you.
And if the balance feels off, you have a responsibility to yourself and your dreams to take a step back and decide whether or not the use of your time is in alignment with your values and goals. And if, like me, you find yourself saying “I have no time!” to do the things that light you up and call out to your soul, but your social media usage is sitting in the hours marker…. Well, my friend, maybe it’s time for a change.
Time is our one and only non replenish-able resource
When I’m old and silver (never grey) with my best years behind me, with paper thin skin on hands that have typed out the words that ran through me like rivers, telling my Grandkids what I did with my one wild life - I want to hold my books in my hands, to show them real books. I don't want to dig around the cupboards for a dusty old digital device to look for posts I shared on an app that was popular once upon a time. (Sorry Instagram, you know I love you, but we all know what happened to MySpace)
Everything in my life has lead me to the moment in which I would be equipped to help others with their own journey. Every obstacle, every struggle, every tear shed and every ounce of strength and courage I summoned to push past hurts that I thought would consume me, was all so that I would be perfectly positioned to help other women do the same. That, I am certain of. And I want my life’s to work have spread far and wide, to have touched the souls of woman from all across the globe. I don’t want to look back with deep reservoirs of regret for the woman who “didn’t have enough time” to pursue her life’s purpose, her passion.
And whist I deeply hope that my posts do indeed have this impact, that is always my desire, I know in my heart it’s only a fraction of what I really have to offer. So I’m stepping away from the world of posting content on social media apps. A little social media sabbatical if you like. My books are of course still open for 1:1 clients, and I’ll be showing up here on the blog a hell of a lot more!
I don’t know how long I’ll need or want to be away from socials. Maybe it’ll be a month. Maybe it’ll be 6. The same way I know it’s right to step back, I’ll know when it’s right to return.
However what I do know is this - I'm going to spend my extra 2 hours and 23 minutes a day writing.
Much Love & Magic
Hayley x
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