Life update and Social media detox

Ross Jr. life update and social media detox

Well hello internet friends,

It's been a hot minute since I've written to you and I can honestly say I sure did miss ya. I took a brief break from social media. But I'm back !!!

LIFE UPDATE:

There are approximately ten million things going on right now and I need to tell you all of them.

Robbie.

He had back surgery. Microdiscectomy. Or discectomy for short. Which sounds a lot like vasectomy when you say it audibly and causes a lot of confusion for folks.

So we are just saying back surgery.

BECAUSE YESSSSS, Robbie still has his balls.

He's doing great. At this moment he is snuggled in bed next to me. Some days are so good and pain free. Some days he still feels tinges of the pain he had before. For those who don't even understand how or why he got to the place of needing surgery…. That's a whole other topic that we won't get into here.

We are home.

Three days before I left for India, Robbie's back pain took a turn for the worse. Nerve pain is no joke. There are not a lot of things that freak me out. But seeing my husband, the strongest man I know, crippled in pain that absolutely nothing could relieve is just about the worst possible thing in the world.

I considered cancelling my trip to India. But the Red Sox PT ensured me he would be well taken care of. And if we had not managed his pain level 24 hours before, I wouldn't have gone.

But I did! Me and a small group of women including Ashley Kelly flew to India to visit Mission 108’s partners and train a new employee. The trip was magic and I'll tell you all about it in a separate post. Just know we came back home with a team full of nose piercings, hearts filled to the brim, and a goal to support a safe home for an entire year!

Magic. Jesus. And a little rebellion.

During the trip, we found out Robbie would need surgery immediately after I returned. So I flew home, Robbie had surgery, and five days later we came back to Kentucky!

I attract chaos.

As if surgery, jet lag, packing our house, and driving myself and three dogs 15 hours wasn't enough, I decided it was a good idea to completely tear apart our home and remodel it in the middle of two deadlines for Mission 108, and training our new partnerships director.

Y'all, what is wrong with me?!

Rob and I are working on a project that we will hopefully share with y'all in January!!! Fingers crossed. It's the most epic thing we've ever done and I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

It's very exciting but also scary because it's a huge risk. When I’m in the middle of chaos I tend to zone out and become a zombie because of the internal conflict consuming my brain.

Social media detox.

Which is exactly why I took a breather from social media. I woke up one day and thought about how many minutes of the day I waste scrolling the World Wide Web. The detox was time to refocus and find my zin.

I suggest everyone do a social media detox if you haven't before. When I came back, I felt lighter and more refreshed than ever. I'm still posting (DUH) but just not scrolling even half as much as before.

Y'all, the mindless scrolling is dumb and wasting away our precious relationships that we have face to face. I unfollowed 700 accounts that I couldn't even remember why I followed in the first place. And some accounts I really love, I just needed to make space in my life and day to write, and create, and be intentional.

Which leads me to my revelation.

Create space

I have about 75 revelations a day so take this for what it's worth.

Intentionality and gratitude will change everything. I've talked about my gratitude practice before but if you're new here:

I start each day writing down the things I'm grateful for. I struggle in the mornings. Mornings are nightmares. I wish I was a morning person. I've tried to be. But i am just not wired that way. I'm wired to release every demon to walk this earth in the morning if you speak to me.

It's dramatic and true.

I needed a practice that forced me to remember that life as I know it is not over just because I have to wake up.

There was born my gratitude practice.

Some mornings I write for hours. Some mornings I write down ten generic things. It doesn't matter as long as I do it.

It really changes the way your day goes by practicing gratitude!!

But the social media detox gave me this zest for intentionality. Have you ever driven through a light and wondered if it was red or green?!

Ummm the answer is YES. Yes, you have. If you're American, you have done this.

I practice yoga for this very reason because something about being in my twenties and chasing after dreams and being driven also comes with forgetting about the present moment and enjoying where I'm at.

Intentionality

Scrolling on socials can invite a zombie like attitude that just creates more escaping from our lives.

We become less intentional about our interactions thus we have less real, meaningful conversations because we are only living in our minds.

It's dangerous. I hate it.

I'm not a social media nazi. I don't believe social media is bad. YALL KNOW I LOVE INSTAGRAM. So I'm by no means bashing these platforms. Actually, not at all.

I'm just saying being conscious of how we use them can really change the game. When I got back on Instagram and unfollowed 700 accounts, it had nothing to do with those accounts and everything to do with me, my time, and the space I want to live in.

SO MANY ACCOUNTS are chasing a large following and content that is well, just content for the sake of posting and gaining likes and followers. I don't know about you but I'm sick of seeing that junk and therefore don't want to follow those accounts.

Y'all, we can use our platforms BIG and SMALL for good. People say to me all the time, “ I don't have that many followers So I don't post”. Or I don't write. Or I don't whatever.

Validation is important. But it's not the only reason we should show up.

Okay.

Great people showed up for their lives before they were great. They showed up, and then became great. Most people are so afraid of showing up they've got no shot at making a difference.

The worst thing that could happen to my Instagram would be to gain thousands of followers. I don't want that. I love this community. I love getting private messages about how what I've written MEANS SOMETHING to y'all. And I get those because I'm intentional about what I post. I couldn't give two shitts about posting every Monday at five pm because that's when there's more traffic. I refuse to make my posts TYPE CODE BRITTANY20 for 20 percent off some crap I don't use.

It's all about being intentional. Online and in life. We can't allow something so powerful like social media to control us. When we were meant to control it.

My encouragement for you is to evaluate where you're putting your energy. Wherever that energy goes, make sure it's intentional. If it's online and you find yourself scrolling non stop or leaving the gram feeling jealous, or less than, or not enough then unfollow the accounts that make you feel that way.

My account included. If my account has ever made you feel like you aren't enough, by golly unfollow me!!

Life is meant to be lived with gratitude and intention. From there, our moments, or days, and our lives change.

Sending each of you all the love and support this week. Love

BAR