The SM Fast
On Saturday, my youth pastor, Bro. Joey, spoke about the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude, and how the many noises present in today’s society are crowding God’s voice out. He spoke of the need to “come away to a solitary place”, as Jesus did often, during the course of His ministry.
One evident source of “noise” is that from social media – Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr. These take up our time, unnecessarily perhaps. Sometimes, we even allow our interactions on these mediums to define who we are, or how we feel.
In light of this, BroJo proposed a challenge to all of R-AGE to abstain from social media for a minimum of 72 hours. No posts, no updates, no check ins, and no notifications, so you won’t be tempted and want in on the action.
Here’s my recount of the last 72 hours of fasting all social media; The time logs show how much time is left in the fast. Enjoy, and may it inspire you to do likewise.
72 hours
It’s begun. Last IG post was a screenshot of my 72 hour (3 day) timer. Last post on twitter and fb was “Fasting all social media for 72 hours. No twitter, FB, IG, 4sq. See y’all on the other side. Kthxbai.”
66 Hours
Woke up to almost no notifications. What peace and serenity. Had some buggy 4sq notifications coming through but that’s been fixed.
63 Hours
Nine hours have passed. I strangely don’t feel the need to tap ‘Twitter’ or ’4sq’. Facebook has been a bit more challenging, especially when I open my web browser, but so far so good.
I did get a brief urge to check in at clementi MRT, almost out of instinct; my hand twitched as if to reach for my phone, but then I remembered. It’s actually not as painful as it sounds at first. I’m enjoying the peace.
Somewhere on the train ride to GI, someone is reading her notifications on FB. I feel secretly happy that I don’t have to contend with catching up on the happenings on fb; the quiet is pleasant.
62 Hours
Joey got 4sq -.- He checked in at Grace assembly. Looks like Joel Lee’s gonna lose his mayorship. Hehe.
54 Hours
Just got home from a SM-less day. It wasn’t as painful as I had initially thought (I keep saying this).
Less time spent checking in and instagraming means more time spent with people. Love people, use things (and social media), not love things and use people.
If there was one tinge of regret, it would be the inability to get in touch with a friend who’s abroad, who had another night out at the Internet cafe. Sorry!!
41 Hours
It’s a new day! Woke up to 5 notifications, all email or SMS only! Not really feeling any withdrawal symptoms, since I haven’t been receiving notifications (aside from the one from twitter that slipped through), so I don’t really feel the need to be in on the action.
I don’t know if it’s just psychological, but I had a better rest last night! I think I must’ve done two sleep cycles – 10pm to 3am, 3am to 9am. No 4sq or twitter notifications to wake up to. Just plain old SMS, whatsapp, and email (can’t disable this during this period cos of lots of work matters).
For all those who are reading this and still contemplating whether or not to do this fast, you won’t regret doing it. You’ll realise what is truly necessary, and what is really noise; twitter, Facebook, 4sq, IG, tumblr – these are all tools to connect and network, not things we are enslaved to. This fast should do for you what it did for me at the very least – change the balance of power so you become a master over social media.
40 Hours
Less noise means more clarity when listening out for God. He just revealed a new analogy for QT – just like breakfast is important to your physical body in starting the day right, so is QT for the spirit man. Pretty cool huh. Don’t think my mind would’ve been so sharp, had I been thinking of what so-and-so tweeted last night. You get the drift.
34 Hours
A day out to the mall, trying to find things for a special service in December, and the Phonesuit Elite without actually using SM. I don’t think it would have been of much assistance anyway. The only disadvantage was being unable to publicise the on-going offer that I benefitted from, when I got for the Phonesuit, on Facebook/Twitter for anyone interested, but I guess that can wait till after my fast.
32 Hours
Back home after some errands and a haircut. Trying to organise a small event now without SM. It’s a little bit tough but not unmanageable. The wonders of iMessage and whatsapp!
19 Hours
Into my third day now, and it really doesn’t feel bad in any real way. I would extend the fast except for the fact that there’s lots to do and SM does make it easier to do some of these things. Just have to always remember that it’s not a master of me; I am a master over it.
3 Hours
Almost at the end now. I went for a night run and realised how nice it is not to have Facebook or twitter notifications to have to deal with after the run. At the end of the run during cooldown, I even had a little time for prayer below my block.
It was a timely reminder from God that loving others comes from the love from Him, not because you want others to love you in return; when this is applied to love, it takes on a new meaning.
.5 Hours
I’m going to sleep before the actual time to break fast. Three days of quiet. Three days of increased sensitivity.
May I always remember what is necessary and what is nice to have, and may I remember that SM is merely a tool to communicate better, and reach larger audiences. It is not something that should get the better of me, nor is it something that should determine who I am, how I feel, or what I should do.
+4 Hours
The fast is over! I, for one, won’t be restoring certain notifications. No, I quite like the quiet. Haha. Congrats if you’ve followed me this far on my journey, and I hope this recount inspires you to do likewise.
In the midst of all the noise and hustle bustle we have in this world, sometimes the best we can do (aside from a holiday) is to abstain from the very things that cause the noise; you will then hear God more clearly.
