I don’t remember being on vacations for such a long time, probably since I left high school and those endless summers. From one side, I genuinely dedicate the time to stop, but something else made a difference, which I want to tell you.
To be more precise, I noticed that I had joined my first social media platform in 2006, 15 years ago. Frustrating at the time because I barely had anyone to talk with, it became little by little part of my life and helped me keep in touch with many people and recover long lost contacts.
I decided to jump on an exciting journey to read everything I have posted in the last 15 years on such a platform—pictures, thoughts, heated discussions, birthday wishes, etc. It took me a couple of weeks and a folder on my desktop to save photographs and moments that I did not even remember took place.
It was a walk into memory lane but, at the same time, an opportunity to gain perspective on a few things I would like to share with you.
- The way we are using social media, I believe is not helping our humanity. I noticed how incredibly positive, genuine and happy my interaction with other people was in the platform’s early days. The mood has deteriorated and became almost unbearable over the last years with the extreme polarization and toxic energy fueled by media, politics and censorship.
- Everyone likes to feel unique at least once a year, even if you don’t pay much attention to your birthday. But being remembered means receiving a call, a letter or a visit, not an automated bot reply. I cannot tell you how much I dislike the feeling of true human relations being intermediated by machines.
- Being together with a friend has become something trivial. They are all just a click away, and we can even see what they did on the weekend with the kids and at the restaurant. I think true friendship should never become trivial. A friend is someone you want to savour every minute with and dedicate your full attention when together. There is something perverse when you have more than a thousand “pet” friends waiting on your browser tab to be contacted. That is an offence to the concept of friendship.
- Finally, when I checked my screen time management (that beautiful function on your phone and computer), I feel that what I was receiving was way less than what I was giving, namely my finite time, energy and attention. A bad deal in purely economic terms.
I am sure that if you decide to do your analyses, you will find easily your conclusions to like or dislike what we allowed into our lives permanently for many years and billions of people.
Far from me to preach to you about what you should do, but I deleted my personal account, and I am not going back. I am going forward to be more human and spend more quality time with my friends, the old ones and new ones I haven’t met yet. And that made all the difference in the way I enjoyed my vacation.
What about the Walking Mentorship account? You might be asking.
We know that sooner or later, we will start quietly fading away from the social media frenzy. It is not compatible with the life we are pursuing, and we have doubts it is the best way to communicate with the people that have been to our mentoring programs (the alumni) or the ones that might be interested in joining in the future.
Step by step, we will dedicate more of our attention to the newsletter 0,00Km. We want to be and feel like that friend that, when arrives, is welcomed. If you haven’t yet subscribed to it, this might be an excellent opportunity to do so here. Twice per month, we will send you some inspiration to continue walking with us.
In the meantime, we are back to our mentoring programs after a well-deserved vacation. Our immersive programs will return to the road in October. Two beautiful routes, in the Camino de Santiago and Rota Teresiana (groups are already completed) and then in November and December with the program in Alqueva Lake and the Year-end classic in Colmeal, both in Portugal and with places available. The schedule for 2022 is already available on our website. Pay attention because some of the immersive programs are almost full.
Our Corporate mentoring also resumed in September with another edition of the Forward program for Leaders and the newly crafted Burn(out) Stress to help us tackle the mental health challenges and stigma within every organization. Ready to continue walking towards the best version of yourself?
THIS SUMMER VACATION WE ALSO MOVED OUR OFFICE TO ANOTHER LOCATION
João office view
Nuno office view
SHOULD WE WALK TOGETHER?
Walking Mentorship is a labour of love that helps you gain deeper insight and equips you to create a meaningful impact in your life and those around you. How can we work together? We keep things simple by offering Immersive, short-term and Corporate programs. Check the best fit for you.
Keep walking with me,
João Perre Viana
Partner of Walking Mentorship
Ps* If you enjoyed the 0,00KM, please share it with others. If you received the 0,00KM from a friend, send us your e-mail, and we will add you to our mailing list.
