David Marques

I returned to social media for the first time in 6 weeks. This initial “mute button” was pressed out of necessity as my phone died and I had to buy a new one. I heard that the whole process of having your cellphone removed unexpectedly could create stress and anxiety; that forced change was initially impactful to me as I scrambled to buy a new device. But since I am sensitive and cautious with most any dollar purchase I ended up ordering a new cellphone that would only arrive a week later.

The ability to cope without a device didn’t go away easily but my ability to constantly review social media and post an update slowly slipped away. Adding to all this, shortly after my new device arrived our family made a month-long trip to Portugal and our plan had always been to not post any updates until we got back. Well, we are now back and realizing so much of what our family lived through in the last month has not been posted on social media. And I realized this unplanned fasting has been positive. Indeed, it allowed us to live it more fully.

What is fasting?

If you search for the definition of fasting you will most likely find a metabolic description that recognizes it as the absence of food or drinks. This is true but in many ways this reality only scratches the true meaning of it. Primarily because it can be applied to more than just food. Secondly because the process one goes through when fasting is often more important than the act itself. The real benefit is in the transformation you go through.

As a Christ-follower the action of fasting is often revered as an opportunity to refresh our faith with intentional sacrifice that gets us closer to God. The pain of not having food is real, and in many ways not being able to “post an update” made me uncomfortable. It is in these moments you hold on to what is real and pure. My faith makes this possible through the reading of scripture and prayer. Through this social media fasting I experienced this and more.

It helped me truly connect with my family

The first benefit of being away from social media was the ability to truly connect with my family. This benefit may seem obvious but you don’t realize the fullness of it until you experience it. Especially with our trip to Portugal, our family enjoyed each moment without the distractions of needing to take pictures only to post for everyone else to see it. It gave us the freedom to enjoy the most simple moments in a day together. Moments like waking up and starting the day with a conversation about life, what has been and what we hope to be. Or going on a walk and talking about our family and the ways we can continue to grow together. These meaningful moments only happened because we didn’t have the distractions of a Facebook post or an Instagram update.

It helped me enjoy each moment in the now

The ability to turn off distractions allows us to also enjoy the beauty of simple moments like sitting at a cafe, enjoying a sunset or just being quiet in the wilderness. I did plenty of it in Portugal but you don’t need to travel overseas to experience it. The opportunity to enjoy each moment can be achieved simply by committing to turning off your phone or silencing your notifications. It can be hard at first but eventually you find yourself being comfortable in the silence. A silence that doesn’t compare you to what others are doing.

It helped me recognize my blessings

Ultimately I think the biggest benefit I experienced was to recognize how blessed I am. It was easy to be with family I haven’t seen in a year and eating the foods that I grew up with and recognize the gift, but even as I traveled home I experienced a sense of gratitude that could be fulfilled by simply looking at my wife and kids. That’s because when left uninterrupted by social media one doesn’t need to boast about what they have done or what they plan to do. Connecting with family and enjoying each moment is a gift that when recognized brings gratitude.

Have you ever planned a social media fasting? What was your experience? Leave a comment below.