on being present in the world of social media

My world, like many, tends to spin on a dime most of the time. I am a single woman running a small business and usually going in a thousand directions at any given moment. People will ask what I do, and often the response is “it depends on the day of the week.”

With life and business and the end of our fingertips all hours of the day, I found myself feeling overwhelmed and scattered, with a bit of anxiety about the day to day communication with clients who had the potential to become friends of mine with some intentional dialogue on my behalf. I am a Hair & Makeup Stylist who does commercial, editorial, and advertising work. I also own a Skincare & Makeup Studio where I see clients for all types of events, skincare needs or just the everyday application of helping a woman own what makes her feel beautiful!

But along with that, I was finding myself losing the JOY of work in an age where “work” is at an all time creative high. The demand to answer or respond to texts and emails during a shoot was becoming an overwhelming daily turn of events. Jobs or work, had become a distraction to the mound of communication in my everyday life. My work, like a lot of other people’s, comes at me in the form of emails, texts, Instagram DM’s, messenger, and even still, phone calls (which I equate to snail mail these days)… and it never seems to end. Somewhere along the way, I picked up the idea that responding throughout the day when I saw it would clear the clutter and keep chaos at bay for later. That couldn’t have been more untrue.

What I realized is that I was missing the thing that was right in front of me. I had prayed for opportunities to keep doing projects I loved. Commercials, Videos, T.V…. I was there but I was tuning out. I wasn’t able to be present because my mind was so wrapped up in everything I needed to check off my list, making sure I didn’t miss responding to anything.

At the beginning of the year, one goal I had in mind was to be more present. It brought me back to a place where I was focused and able to answer texts or emails with a heartfelt response. That engaged my mind in a way that actually helped me remember these people and the details of their stories with me in a truer and better way. It caused me to use my mind again and find out more about the person. And it actually helped my clients to feel that I really cared about their connection personally.

What I uncovered is that I wanted to really know my clients. And I wanted them to know the heart behind me. That they aren’t just a number, but that they hold value in my world.

It gave me time to be present and enjoy the people I was surrounded with for the day. Engaging in a conversation with a new person or an old connection is more wonderful than we know. We live in a life filled with social media and seeing what people are doing any time we want to. Then in person, it’s like seeing a stranger. We need to be reminded why we put ourselves out into the open… and it’s to engage, not to be seen.

I have walked away with great peace to have given a project or person my all, and respond to people with my best self. In the end, connection is all we have. It’s the way careers are born and the way people choose you to be a part of their projects time and time again. It’s personal.

So next time you are tempted to tune out while in a waiting room, or on a job… remember why you love it in the first place and see if being present is for you! Winning truly is being present for me. It’s engaging in real conversation with real people. It’s laying the phone aside and digging into something you may never experience again. It’s deciding that the person in front of you has a reason for being in your world… at least in that moment.