Studio C & Roommate Bonding

So Friday night, my roommates spent probably about an hour just sitting around and watching Studio C skits together. For the average onlooker this may seem normal for a girls' apartment, but for us, it was a big deal. You see, one of my roommates ever spends time at home, or if she does, she is just working on homework. And another struggles with depression, so to get her to interact with the other three of us is like pulling teeth sometimes. So as we slowly gathered one-by-one around our TV, it was pretty stinkin' happy.

And BTW, most of those Studio C skits are HILARIOUS. I am grateful for those skits that perpetuated our roommate bonding last weekend.

On a side note, so we were watching the skits on YouTube on our TV. And that sneaky YouTube company, they have it set up it so if you don't touch any buttons, it'll automatically play the next video like 10 seconds later! So it gets super addictive to hard to turn it off! :P It definitely now makes me reflect on the reinforcement schedule theory!

Peace & Happiness > Social Media Time

So about two weeks ago I made a conscious decision and made a specific goal in regards to my social media usage. You see, I am very prone to just take the random extra minutes I have throughout the day and just pull up my Facebook feed or browse things on Instagram. But those few extra minutes are easily prone to turn into 10, 30 minutes. And especially before I got to bed at night, if I open up any platform of social media as I'm laying there in bed, I'm a goner. It'll be an hour later and I'm STILL on Instagram...and I can't even really remember what I did for that whole hour.

So least to say, you can see what I wanted to change something. I've been trying to clear my mind and stay more focused on more important things throughout the day, so this is why I set new social media goals. I set the goal that I will only get on social media every Friday. I have also allowed myself to get on once in a while to post something happy I have found or to check my ward Facebook page. But besides that, I've done pretty well at staying sober from my social media-ing.

And you know what?! It's been WONDERFUL. Instead, I've re-established a love connection with the Family Search app for iOS! In my random minutes of down time, I flip out my phone and I go to the record hints and connect them to my ancestors. And shoot, did I get more done in one week of this then I had in probably the past three months. 

That being said, it's not just the happy genealogy work I'm getting done, but I realized something very happy yesterday. The past two weeks have just been SO much better for me emotionally. I'm able to focus better, my life is falling into place and just the internal me is so much consistently calmer than really ever before. So as I was being thankful and wondering why the change these last two weeks or so, I realized a most-likely connection. My social media sobriety. =D I know it's not just the sobriety, but I do believe it has seriously played a role in it, and for that, I am VERY grateful for the little ways (like this) that the Spirit teaches me ways to improve my life and make me happier.

Church, ADD & Airplane Mode

Living in Provo and being a YSA is a surely a unique experience. In general, the people here are more talented, prestigious and spiritual then if I were to go back to my singles branch back home. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging, just simply observing.

As such, I would hope that we as BYU population would be more immune to the distractions of our smartphones during church, but sadly I have noticed that is not the case.

So I have ADD, so having my phone on me during church just is a no-go because I get SO easily distracted by it. So within the last six months or so, I took a challenge to keep my phone on airplane mode for all three hours of church. And wow. I like who I have become since then; more attentive to the Spirit, more eager to listen to the teacher and more able to engage in socializing with those around me.
That being said, this experience of my own has also made more aware of others' media choices during church. Instagram, Facebook, eBay, surfing the internet and texting. WHAT THE?! I think the most alarming thing to me is the possibility that these said individuals are just no longer entertained by the speakers or the teachers so they just pick up their phones and go AWOL with their spiritual learning. I'm a worrier, and I worry for them. 

I know that these last days, the days that precede the Second Coming of the Lord, are not and will not be easy to live in. And being not only physically present, but also spiritually and emotionally present when we attend church and church-related activities alike, will help us strengthen our spiritual armor. It is SO hard for me to see many wonderful, amazing people choosing their phone instead of airplane mode and spiritual enrichment. 

So I guess a good question for you readers is: how can I help these said individuals?