Close Your Screen and Open Your Heart

Cassidy Van Slyke Blenke advocates spending less time scrolling this summer, so you can open your heart to God and those around you.

Society constantly reminds us to “improve ourselves.” After I gave birth earlier this year, social media ads targeted my mobile feeds with slimming beauty products. Should we Google any type of need or fill our Amazon cart with items, we are then served with messaging that endlessly follows us around the internet, reminding us that “we can do better” or “purchase this product, and you’ll be happy with the way you look!” The material economy can create these unconscious habits and drive us to keep consuming, where we fall off our faithful beam and indulge in tendencies that leave us feeling a little less-than.

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Many of these reminders come from companies and influencers looking for a click; some of their intentions are not to help you feel better but rather to get you to take action by targeting an emotional need and vulnerability. Too often enough I turn to the internet for advice, making it a false guiding point and resource when I feel a momentary emptiness. When I become anxious, lonely, or stressed about something, I unintentionally make consumerism, celebrities, and influencers my temporary higher power by scrolling through my phone and binge-watching streaming series because it is easier in the moment and doesn’t entail me stepping outside myself.

Automatically turning to our devices for momentary fulfillment is a hardwired response for many of us who grew up relying on technology. We often fail to recognize that our emptiness still remains after mindless scrolling. Logically, I know that the calm and mindfulness I experience when I connect with my church and higher power leaves me far more empowered and armed for life, but I sometimes blindly and unconsciously ignore this and still proceed to indulge.

Recently, during one of my online indulgences, I was pulled to the light by a Facebook post from the church where my husband and I were married, Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph Parish in Chicago, IL. Father Larry encouraged others to stay engaged with our faith this summer and to grow our minds, body, and spirit through spreading kindness, attending Mass, spiritual readings, and visiting holy places.

Summer is a great time to take a breath and reorient our hearts and minds to the mission and message of Jesus Christ. (Father Larry)

I suddenly snapped out of it and shifted my perspective that I too need to re-engage my attention elsewhere and focus on the unconditional love that my faith provides. Instead of turning to my phone when my alarm goes off, I can choose to close my eyes for a morning mindfulness prayer welcoming the day. Sitting with my children in my living room, I can consciously put away all the family devices and talk about God’s goodness and the kindness and acceptance that Jesus spread throughout the world.

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Click to tweet:
I too need to re-engage my attention elsewhere and focus on the unconditional love that my faith provides. #CatholicMom

Additionally, we can work to customize the content we are viewing online. Focus on following profiles, hashtags, and accounts that align with your mindset and unfollow and mute accounts that fail to bring you joy. This summer I am going to encourage myself and family to take a pause on social media and try and direct our attention to the holy saints who lived a higher calling.

Take a moment to listen with your heart, the holy people, the kind souls of our past who gave up, overcame, and conquered. Wouldn’t it be something if an ad sponsored by God suddenly appeared among our feeds with a message reminding us to close our screens and open our hearts, with no bottom line other than getting you to open the connection with the one Almighty?

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