“Which is worth more, a crowd of thousands,

or your own genuine solitude?

Freedom, or power over an entire nation?

Rumi

I have this quote printed and hanging on my fridge. It’s eerie how relevant this 14th century poet’s words are so relevant to 21st century living– where we are constantly faced with the option of being alone or accessing the lives of thousands through our phones.

Through contemplation of Rumi’s words I have sorted out a list of questions that has actually helped put a roadblock between me and social media scrolling:

What am I actually getting out of this? How does it make feel after I put down my phone?* What could I be creating instead? What would happen if I just sat and observed where I am instead?

*These questions have only really helped because I have observed that after every time of being on social media I feel unhappy. Noticing and naming these feelings have created incentives to not spend time online consuming. Which is how we change behavior, right?