So, I've been having a bit of an allergic reaction ... to social media ... these days! Ask my friends and they'll tell you that something must be really off if I don't post for a few hours! After all, it was one of my friends who asked why I post so often😊 Clearly, she was paying attention with the facade/pretense of being irritated ... puhleeease!! Ok, I'll stop being catty. And yes, I'm aware I should let go of it! Back to my allergy!! While I do suffer from seasonal allergies never before had I experienced what I'm labeling SMIAR or "A Social Media Induced Allergic Reaction."

Believe me, it's not a lack of content or fabulous pics - have you met me?? I live to pose and at any given time have a barrage of photos waiting in my phone to be posted. Bored, burnt out, uninspired, busy, occupied, unwell - nope, none of the above, I thought! I literally have had no desire to post recently and of course, while it will pass (true, it did pass yesterday when I finally posted after several days and now with this blog post today) I decided to dig deeper. Remember, how I talked about Instagram making me happy a couple weeks ago? Well, this was the opposite feeling of what I'd waxed poetic about a few weeks ago. And yes, it was rather uncomfortable for me since I looove my Instagram ... very much💃🏼 However, in the last few days every time I tried to post something, I'd develop the equivalent of an emotional or rather mental case of hives - I swear I'm not being dramatic. Well, maybe a bit!! So, I decided to take a break. I did read two incredibly beautiful books in 4 days (actually re-read one). Lovely pics follow, of course:) I thought a LOT about life in general - mega introspection is more like it! I also started leaving my phone upstairs in my bedroom the entire evening while we all sat downstairs chatting & watching tv (and drinking wine - me and Nadir not the kids) after dinner (ok, that lasted just 3 days) but at least I got 3 days out of it! It's Lulu's spring break so we went for a lovely lunch and much to her shock I didn't rearrange our plates and glasses for the perfect IG story (I know, that won't last long). And for someone who doesn't get to bed before 1 AM, I was asleep most days by 11.30 PM. And one day I woke up at 9.30AM!!!! Oh and I also organized my study and threw away 3 trash cans full of unnecessary documents & old bills that I didn't need at all. Pretty good, no?

My purpose here is not to be "preachy" by any means. All I'm saying is that this tiny break away from social media (I was still pressing like on my friends' pics btw) kind of rejuvenated & grounded me on some level. I'm not even asking you to give it a shot but just sharing a slice of my life and hoping that I always stay true to who I am and in that process remain honest not just with myself but you as well😘 And honestly, the more I think about it I'm certain it was a bit of everything (bored, burnt out, uninspired, busy, occupied, unwell) that led to my SMIAR😳

To that end I'm running a fun contest on my Instagram feed about what grounds you. So please share your thoughts here and on the comments section of the contest post. I'll post the contest this weekend so you can get all the details there and remember to share your comments about what is the ideal way you ground yourself. SMIAR is over and I'm back with a vengeance. Best of luck🙏🏽