I unfollowed the influencers

and other things that have brought me peace in October :)

Oct 30, 2024

Something about me is that I have been on an ongoing journey to quit my social media addiction. I am known to talk about it too much - this impulsive, society-ruining desire to check up on people through these silly little apps as you are literally sitting with real-life people, living a real life yourself.

I hate the endless scroll of sponsored posts and carefully curated photo dumps and non-chronological, algorithm-crafted feeds.

And yet. All summer long and even into early September, I found myself hypocritically spending more hours on these time-suck apps than I had since I was 13. Mindlessly scrolling and comparing and adding to cart. I wasn’t necessarily spending hours and hours at a time on there, but I was “just checking in” more times a day than I ever want to be.

I talked about it with friends and tried to enforce habits like time limits and working-hour rules, but nothing was actually sticking. I would inevitably cave and succumb to the delicious break from my own mind and life to bask in the highlighted version of others.

Until I decided in early October to finally go through my Instagram Following and unfollow all of the people I didn’t actively know in real life (goodbye blue checkmarks☑️).

[although I will admit I did keep a few that I can confidently say bring me more inspiration/peace/book recs than consumerism and comparison - so I definitely can’t say I did this in totality.]

And booooy did this change the game. 🤯

It felt like attacking the root of the issue rather than the symptoms. Instead of controlling my time limits and setting arbitrary boundaries, I removed a lot of the temptation of the app itself. Here are just a few of my thoughts and learnings:

Your actual friends don’t post nearly as much as your parasocial connections. When I remove the influencer/content creator clutter, my feed is actually pretty quiet.
I forgot about half the strangers I was following almost immediately. These people who I continuously refreshed on each day, kept up with their coffee orders and home decor updates, gone from my memory like they never existed. I do still see some content from them (like podcasts, longer form videos, Substack, etc.), but not seeing their day-to-day, hour-by-hour activities is freeing up a whooole lotta space for other things. :)

My shopping desires have dropped significantly. It’s amazing how much less you think you need when you aren’t constantly comparing your wardrobe/home/lifestyle to people you don’t even know!! So many less Amazon links and you-need-it-now sales and in-your-face consumerism.
It is so much easier to check in on the people you actually know and hear about their updates. Less fluff to get around.
I overall feel happier with my one precious, imperfect, un-curated life. 🤍 Leaning into anything that bring me closer to that feeling as we close out 2024.

Other things in October that I’ve been loving

keeping my nose in a book (instead of in other people’s feeds)

The Soulmate: an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller that had me hooked from chapter 1. 4/5 stars, good read if you need a quick, entertaining one! Bonus points because I found this one in a cute free neighborhood library in Greenville :)
All the Colors of the Dark: phew.. this one was long and heavy and beautiful and a bit confusing. Not sure where I stand on it exactly, and Goodreads also appears to be quite polarizing. Definitely a cozy, dense winter read if you’re looking for one!!
The Reading List: heartwarming, charming, book-centered (obsessed with anything set in a library). Loved this one :) If you know me you know my favorite trope is cross-generational friendship dynamics (lol) and this one has a very cute one…still thinking about them a few weeks later!!
Currently - Hold My Girl: picked this beauty up at my new favorite bookstore cafe (sorry I will never shut up about SC🤷🏻‍♀️) and am really enjoying it so far. An intriguing moral dilemma about two eggs switched during the IVF process…

proud new Crockpot owner!!

Officially an adult now I think because we own a crockpot!

Our first (and only so far) concoction was a yummy beef stew…and this crockpot lifestyle is living up to the hype so far. Excited to have cozy soups and hearty meals and good smellin’ food all day long. Drop your fave crockpot recipes if you have any!

watching

Love is Blind: sometimes you just need to watch some trashy reality TV
Schitt’s Creek: on season 3 and definitely understand why people love it. One of those shows where you feel like you are stepping into their simple, silly world each time you turn it on.
On deck - Shrinking and Shark Tank and Harry Potter: too many shows and movies, not enough time.

loving
unique cozies

This PJ set from Target is only $15 and SOOO soft. Embroidered this one for Dana and going to embroider a white set for myself :) so this is your sign to ~make things your own~

listening to:
Close Behind - Noah Kahan

this podcast episode

this jazz playlist

bringing into November

unsubscribing from spammy newsletters - why are there so many?!?!
moving my body outside as the weather cools off (🤞)
gratitude and reflection
more crafts/doing things with my hands, less staring at screens in my downtime

What are you bringing into the new month, friends?? Any book recs, recipes, songs, thoughts and feelins?! sending lots of love as we head into the final two months of 2024!

xo,

Caro

the spark

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