I’ve been off of social media for basically six months, virtually the entire time that I’ve been living in Southern California.

This break has been mostly from Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I’ve popped in and out of Twitter every couple of weeks.

It wasn’t an intentional break. The truth is, part of me wanted to be on social media. I’ve been having this amazing adventure living home-free. The past six months have been filled with huge growth moments and learning opportunities that I feel are important to share.

At first I simply couldn’t find the words. I found it difficult to articulate my experience, much less in a short caption.

So I stopped trying. I let it go.

Something I’ve learned in writing my blog is that there is value in living an experience and processing it before trying to summarize it for others.

Social media creates this dynamic where we are often trying to share the experience while we are still in it. The result is that we don’t ever really live our own experiences; we experience the idea of them that we create through our descriptions.

When you’re trying to summarize and report on an experience while you’re still in it, then you’re no longer really in it. You cannot be an observer, reporter, and in the moment at once.

I didn’t want to live like this.

I wanted to be fully present.

So instead of documenting my experience, I lived my experience.

Not through a set of curated photos, but through an array of experiences. I engaged with people face-to-face. I was present.

The stories and lessons will keep. There’s no expiration date on when they can be shared. But the moments are fleeting. We cannot get them back.

I am grateful that I gave myself the opportunity to experience them fully.

PS – There’s more to say here, so stay tuned for other insights.