To Blog, or Not To Blog

I would not have thought of myself as someone to ever have a blog; even after starting this blog and instagram account, it has taken me over two months to write a post. While I sometimes use instagram and Facebook, I've otherwise never had a much of an online presence, and I even tend to go through phases of social media use. One month I may be oversharing pictures of my dog Bailey, and the next month, I'm deactivating accounts. I think many people have found themselves in similar situations... while we love to scroll and post highlights of our lives, after some time, the content can start to seem fake and vain, and the messages insensitive and divisive. It also becomes a platform for comparing our lives against the lives (or perception of the lives) of others on our feed, which can take a toll on mental health.

For me, as someone who already has a hard time living in the present moment, I dislike how much social media can distract from the current place and time. I also dislike thinking about how much time is wasted scrolling time, instead of being put to better uses. These negative aspects of social media seem amplified when going through a rough time. For all of these reasons, in the past couple of years, my accounts have been deactivated longer than in use; my 2020 and 2021 were filled with surgeries and bad luck which made it difficult to constantly see the highlight reels of everyone else's lives, and I certainly didn't feel like I had much to post about.

For all of the reasons listed above, I've probably been one to emphasize the negative aspects of social media more than the positive aspects, which is why I wouldn't have envisioned myself ever starting a blog. However, my current life circumstances have me focusing on the benefits of social media. There is no denying the fact that it allows us to connect and share information with people across the globe better than ever before; something that is, of course, very important to me right now. I couldn't imagine living on another continent and being totally removed from the lives of friends and family back home; I don't know how those in past generations moved abroad with only letters and infrequent phone calls to communicate back home. Just this week, Instagram and Facetime allowed me to see my friends baby shower, connect with other expats in Amsterdam, and show my grandparents my new apartment.

Therefore, I've determined that at this point in my life, especially during this new adventure, I'm going to lean-in to the benefits of social media as a way to stay connected to those back in the US, as well as connect with people in my new home. In addition, I hope this is a way to connect with others going through a similar move or circumstance. Maybe some of this information can be used by the next reader who moves abroad. Now, the decision may be easier than the execution, as I find myself struggling to write blog posts and share content ... but, I'm going to lean-in to this new experience, so bear with me :)