Social (Isolating) Media

(Unfortunately,) We are caught up in a society where we need to constantly become stimulated and satisfied for the hot minute our achievements make it to our news feeds - whether that's a 24 hour story on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, SnapChat, the list lingers on as the attraction to glamourize and excite becomes more prevalent on instant social media. 

I initially thought Gen Z (youth born 1995 and later) would be the hot victims aboard this self-glamourizing and socially-isolating train.

We are all caught up in it - our parents especially, who are lacking more and more in the social hosting department and trying ever so slowly to assimilate themselves by watching videos, looking at endless photo posts from across the globe, and taking selfies with goofy filters. 

Image: Mashable

This is by far not a protesting cry, but a gentle foot being put down - it is our collective responsibility to pick up after ourselves. I try to catch myself all the time, when I casually want to exit from a social gathering and peer down at my phone at the endless notifications that are not even directed towards me. Your physical life does not get any better or worse by fulfilling the need to know, to check, to bury your own worries behind someone else's fairytale projection.

Has this become the norm? The minute someone does not carefully craft something that you want to hear (IRL), you begin staring at your phone, hoping for that hot minute that something (right then and there) is going to save you and your attention span.

I often get anxiety meeting people for the first time, assuming that they will constantly be checking their phones every 10 minutes between our physical interaction - it is mildly interesting that there is value finding individuals who mindfully put away their phones, place their notifications on silent, and are incredibly engaged in your present conversation. Rarity that is highly overvalued - and this shouldn't be the case. 

This should be the norm. 

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Image: Pinterest

I do not deny my own preference and personal use of social media channels (updating Instagram stories when I can) as the social acceptance of usage is fairly high. Lately, I have witnessed a number of networking events where the main mode of congregating people together and engaging in a 'team-bonding' effect is through the use of our phones and social media. For something that is so transient and lost in 24 hours, wouldn't you want to create an experience that is more deeply personal - one that you can take with you after you leave the event?

“Of course, that isn’t to say that social media channels doesn’t have its perks - it easier to brand ourselves and change our brand identities through our social media channels and ask people to follow us than to hand out business cards where the information may have already expired or be lost in coat pockets and wallets. ”

“I think we are more and more afraid of admitting how common and prevalent our social anxieties are.”

Perhaps if we could become a little bit more present, a little bit less ignorant, a little less dependent on these devices, we could spend a little bit more energy really being able to genuinely connect, look each other in the eye, reach out with a greater open-mindedness, and notice what all our commonalities are as opposed to thinking we need to be better and greater than all those that we surround ourselves with. 

Image: Julia Hilao

So on my end...

I am making an active recovery as a former social media addict, to reach out to people through personal calls, meet-ups and uninterrupted social interactions to overwrite my feeling of insufficiency and assumption that people can see all of my accomplishments, vulnerabilities, and life decisions through my social media channels. The reality is, our feeds are way too saturated with stuff, as much as we would 'double-tap' or acknowledge 'watching' a story - the likelihood of something staying in our mind's attention will probably disintegrate in the course of 10 minutes. 

And for those of my friends and colleagues who keep a fair distance with social, I applaud you and only wish you the calmest of sanity to keep it up - because gosh knows the game of becoming socially involved is becoming ever more inclusive and only until you jump onto the bandwagon will you really know what the hullaballoo is on everyone's minds. 

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Top 10 Tips for Self-Care (Pre and Post-Holidays)

The holidays are quickly creeping up, and if you're like most urbanites and fitting in your last minute express shopping this week both online and in stores, you're probably quickly reaching high levels of anxiety and temptation to burn out. 

Here is your Self-Care Prescription

that won't cost you too many pretty dimes, so you can go on maintaining your budget into the New Year.

1. Invest in a Journal

And, of course, use it too. Everything from jotting down ideas, to-do lists, brainstorming, or simply ranting out the daily schpeel, make it a regular practice each morning or evening, anywhere from 5-15 minutes.

We love Leuchtturm1970's 10-year anniversary hardcover editions in gold, silver, and bronze that come with page numbers and a table of contents.

Want to get really organized? Try Toronto's Productivity Planner by Intelligent Change or Vancouver's Focus Journal by L'Atelier with their refined and minimalist aesthetic.  

2. Invest in some relaxing bath products

Even if you're not necessarily a "bathtub person," finding ingredients with high quality exfoliants, scrubs, and essential oils can leave you feeling detoxified and well-rested each evening before sleep. 
- French pink clay: huge exfoliant, draws out oil, blackheads, dirt, and impurities - doesn't dry out the sky and does not leave the skin feeling harsh/dry
- Epsom Salts: 
- lavender, geranium, chamomile and rosemary and very gentle and relaxing scents

We love

• Pink Clay Body Scrub from Sunday's Company
• Detox Bath Salts in Eucalyptus & Mint from Bridlewood Soaps
• Lavender Sugar Scrub from Leaves of Trees

3. Find a detoxifying and cleansing tea/tonic

Look for ingredients such as peppermint, turmeric, rosehips, chamomile - or simply go to a bulk food mart, find these ingredients yourself and boil down with hot water, yourself. Make a large batch in a pot and carry cups with you in a heated thermos to always have some on the go! Stay hydrated this busy season ahead.

4. Go for a sensory-deprivation float

The art of doing nothing. Absolutely disconnect for 1-2 hours as you are immersed on water in your own tank in complete silence and darkness. No phone, no electricity, no technology, no stimulants, no clothing => no anxieties, amiright? The simple disconnection from life's many distractions may cause initial concern, but the easing in process proves to be all the more crucial to enhancing the overall heightened experience of one attaining a more blissful state.

Never experienced a float? Don't ruin your experience with the expectation that you will be floating on cloud nine. The water is warmed to your basal body temperature so you will feel neither too hot nor cold, and there are over 5000 lbs. of epsom salts to make sure you stay afloat.

5. Make a one-pot meal (i.e. soup, stew, curry)

Invest in a slow-cooker or a lobster pot where you can boil cups of water or stock to make the most delicious meals to heat up on the go. 

Soup Girl has some amazing jars of pre-assembled soup ingredients filled with organic and vegan goods such as lentils, split peas, brown rice, and spices. One jar yields up to ten servings of soup! That's more than enough to have for a week and then some to freeze.

Also, check out these online soup recipes including anti-inflammatory and superfood ingredients at Joyous Health and vegan options at Oh She Glows. 

6. Learn a new trade on your own

Having to prepare and clean-up after parties can certainly pose as a nightmare but by booking a class/workshop and learning a new craft, simply paying for a ticket and dropping
in is all you have to be worried about. 

With so many cool artisanal workshops to choose from in the city

• The Workroom: try a class or a new project using the communal surgers, sewing machines, tapestries, and more.
• The Shop: take a class in ceramics, woodworking, script-writing, and more at this multidisciplinary space.
• MakeLab: learn 3D printing or laser cutting with one of the experts on-hand.
• PaintLounge: grab a canvas, an easel, paint, and caffeinated beverage to start your painted masterpiece.
• Le Dolci: take a workshop in macaron making, cake decorating, or piping eclairs. 
• The Depanneur: drop in for weekly dinners, attend a cooking workshop, or host a supper club specializing in different culinary cuisines.

7. Try Accupuncture

There are a few PWYC holistic health centres in the city that are based on a sliding scale, making self-care simply accessible to people of all income levels and walks of life. 
Accupuncture can help with a variety of issues, from insomnia, stress, muscle tension, poor posture, digestion, aiding in helping organ vitality and stimulating blood flow.

Different issues are addressed with each 45 minute to 75 minute session by targetting different accupressure points along all sides of the body, left, right, front, and back.

We love ToCA and Six Degrees Health that both operate on a sliding scale basis.

8. Clean, clean, clean

Cleaning the physical space may seem like a daunting task, however, we go through consuming gifts, to wrapping, to packaging, to new and old seasonal apparel, etc. etc. that we don't anticipate how much more of the excesses we accumulate.

Physically looking at all the additional crap we don't need leaves us feeling flustered, anxious, frustrated and disorganized.

Look to optimize what you can depart with and trade it on Bunz, Let Go, and donate, donate, donate.

9. Use the Infrared Sauna

A great low-intensity alternative to a great sweat that will cost you under $25 at most fitness and yoga studios. Infrared technology allows the ions to distribute evenly across your body and warms you from the inner core, out. A 20 minute session possesses the equivalent benefits of low-moderate cardiovascular exercise and promotes blood flow, detoxification well after being in the sauna.

10. Create better sleeping habits; make your bed a haven

Virtuously the best tip saved for last - invest in better sleep! A great mattress and pillow suited to your sleeping type. 

Be able to create smarter habits before going to bed, turning off your phone, removing work-related items away from the bedside table, creating a meditation corner, creating an ultimate sanctuary to disconnect and unwind. (see Shawn Stevenson's Sleep Smarter)

Do you have any tried and true self-care rituals and tips?

Please share yours below!