It’s 5:35 AM here in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu. The island birds have just woken up, and the sun will soon rise above the glistening emerald sea. This feels like our second home, and our time here every spring is like summer camp with our best friends and spiritual “Ohana,” filled with laughter and play. In the past, I was the girl who gave my Instagram followers the play-by-play of my life — and especially when I was on vacation!
But I have come to experience the sweetness and beauty of an unseen life. One that is mostly unseen on social media (I still do share some life photos), and unknown to those who don’t fully know me and aren’t physically with me, but one that is fully seen and known by the people who love and know me best. Side note – If you are one of my blog readers, you are dear to me, and I enjoy sharing photos and parts of my life with you (this one of me and Paul is our favorite from our stay). Sharing my musings and life on my blog is a different and more fulfilling experience than posting on social media. I hope that everything I share on my blog will encourage and inspire you, rather than making you feel envious. But if it does cause comparison, please log off and do something that will bring you more joy.
I have also dedicated my life to adding value to others, as articulated by my mentor, John Maxwell. I realized I don’t add value to girls’ and women’s lives when I incessantly share the highlight reel of my life in real-time. I want them to be asleep to my life and others online, and fully awake to their own.
This week has been filled with precious moments. From having coffee, reading, and writing on Auntie Miki and Uncle Scott’s lanai as the sun rose every morning, to swimming the entire length of the Waimea Bay with my friend Emma Valetntine, and catching the longest left of my life on a cute pink longboard in Waikiki, to the sweetness saltwater kisses with my husband, these are moments I want to keep for myself.
Today, we are pressured to live a loud life — to accumulate as many followers as possible. Somehow, we now feel compelled to give friends and strangers a front-row seat to our lives. But that is not the life God created us to live. When I share details of my life on social media, I feel a sense of angst. It makes me want to live for human approval, and it draws attention to myself, which always makes me a bit self-conscious and leaves me feeling exposed.
I’ve been loving blogging because I consider my readers as a part of my life, even if I’ve never met them. I hope that everything I share in my books, on my blog, and sometimes on social media will inspire others and leave them feeling affirmed, rather than envious.
I hope you will get a copy of my book, Social Media Reset, take the journey, and start to experience how sweet life can be when we choose an unseen life offline. I know that after your 30-day journey, you’ll come to love it!
With Joy,
Allie
