There is so much I like about social media.

I really like being able to stay in my pajamas in my cozy home and feel like I am connected to people all over the world.

Somehow, when I am home alone, I am not actually alone. I can connect to everyone I’ve taken the time to become connected to whenever I want to.

This is incredible!

And through the use of social media, we now have the ability to create businesses, promote events, share jokes, and get up on our personal soapboxes and preach to the masses whenever we feel like it.

And this is also pretty great.

But even though social media can do all of these great things, there is still something it can’t do: heal us.

The answers we seek may be inspired from interactions or new information we gain through social media, but they aren’t the answers themselves.

This is a nuanced distinction but it’s important.

If we aren’t taking what we are exposed to—or, in some cases, are exposing others to—through social media to our own healing practices, then we aren’t actually going to see our quality of life increase.

People say very annoying things on the internet. I mean, ridiculous things. And it is easy to go straight into judgment, commenting, or disagreeing about what we see and read on social media.

And people also say very illuminating, stimulating things on our social media threads, and this can be inspiring. We can feel touched when we read something that opens our hearts.

But the thing is, social media is not going to save you no matter how much you stare at your phone, or how much you throw your righteousness into your keyboard, stating what you are for and against.

Social media interactions are now completely woven into the fabric of our reality, and this isn’t going to change. But they aren’t reality themselves.

When we look up from the screens that dominate our life, we can see that we live in a physical space and have our own bodies to tend to, and real people in the flesh who we are connected with.

We also have our own breath, our own energy, and our own pain and blockages that we need to engage with.

The solution you are looking for in business, your love-life, friendships, or healing will not be found on social media. It may be supported, stimulated or triggered there, but for the healing you are looking for to come to fruition, you will have to look beyond staring at the screen or creating the perfect post.

This is not an argument that social media is bad in any way. Social media is what it is—a way we connect with others, which means it encompasses all the good, the bad, and the really ugly that manifests whenever humans interact with each other.

But your own truth and manifestation of your goals does not live in your computer or phone.

It lives inside of you.

We all need to ensure we aren’t using social media to avoid our own truth, or hoping it will solve problems it is not capable of solving.

Another like on your photo, a beautiful comment on your post, or a million new followers will never be anybody’s salvation. When we really know this, we can keep clicking away on all the forums where people connect each and everyday, but we will be clicking away with our eyes wide open to our own truth—which is that our own truth will only ever be found within our own being.

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Relephant reads:

How to Tell the Difference between Feeling Sorry for Yourself & Actually Healing your Pain.

What it Means to Speak our Truth.

Try this 3-Step Meditation in the Face of Difficult Times.

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Author: Ruth Lera
Image: “Black Mirror“
Editor: Travis May
Copy Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
Social Editor: Travis May