Social Media As Medicine?
By: Caiyuda Kiora
Tags: Psychedelics, Facebook, Awakening, Instagram, Social Media

I’ve been verbally abused on social media. I’ve been accused of defiling the sacred on social media. I’ve had condescending, patronizing, disrespectful comments spat forth on social media. And I sure as hell know that behind the front-lines, there are PLENTY of people who judge me on social media.

Is it surprising? No, of course not.

Does it sting? Sometimes, but, only momentarily.

Would I change the way I show up to try and avoid all the unsavory comments? Hell no.

If you’re using the internet as a tool for both individual and collective expansion, you’ll know that the more you step up and share more of your self; your message; your vision; your path; your creative expression; your truth; your heart and soul, on social media, the more it’s going to give rise to the doubters, the haters, the candle-stick breakers, and the murky debris of the subconscious mind.

What makes social media medicine?

It’s our relationship to it. It’s our intention. It’s our perspective.

The way I use social media includes many threads, approaching it as a multi-dimensional vehicle for creative expression, sharing ideas, teaching, learning, improving communication skills, integrating experiences through media creation, sharing entrepreneurial and business offerings, connection to community, leadership, leverage and creating change, just to name a few.

We all know that we have the opportunity to connect like never before…

(cue Ancient Astronaut and Atlantean technology)

The olden days of taking a horse and cart for seventeen sunrises to meet with family and business associates are long gone (cue the next big cataclysmic event sending us back hundreds of years). Now all we have to do is use a thumbprint to find our next ex-lover, use the search bar to discover what really happened with 9–11 (reptilian overlords, I’m looking at you), or plug in our headphones to have Bob Lazar and Joe Rogan use the power of long-form conversation to somehow materialize tin-foil hats on all unsuspecting victims of the digital era.

(for the record, yes, I am a believer).

The thing is, there’s just too many people on this planet inhabiting different levels of consciousness, many of which we’re connected to, but have never actually met -let alone communicated with- through the very technological bubble that you’re using to read this post.

The benefits of using social media as a vessel for personal expansion are only a shift in perspective away.

As our world moves deeper into the world of technological integration, and the younger generations are assimilating technology into their daily lives at an exponential rate -for better or worse- all evolutionary signs are currently pointing towards the integration of social media and technology. You can avoid it like the plague if you’re perspective is so repelled by it, or, you have the choice to find out how to harness it to create positive change for yourself and the collective.

From an entrepreneurial and business perspective alone, if you’re not engaging community on social media, gurus like Gary Vee would suggest that you’re already falling behind; soon to choke on dust, being prodded by the end of a paleontologist’s fossil brush.

From a personal perspective, if you can see the value of engaging social media for a variety of reasons, but you’re frozen in fear thinking about how you’ll be judged, if you’re worried about failing, or looking silly, or getting hated on… it comes with the territory. How can we expect to show up in our truth; realizing our potential; in our full power; sharing our creations and our heart-felt message, in person, if we have trouble doing it from behind the glowing blue-light of circadian-rhythm-disruption-ville?

The fact of the matter is, the more we share our path, the more we share our truth, the more we share our message, our vibration, our hearts calling, our souls essence (whether on social media or in “real life”) the more we have to be prepared to come face to face with the perspectives and opinions of others who are stuck in the land of still-asleep-town; population, a lot of people.

For sure, we’re also going to attract the like-minded and like-hearted souls vibrating on a similar frequency, creating tribe, connecting with others on a similar path, feeling supported, feeling safe, feeling worthy, feeling accepted, but of course on the flip side, our sharings are inevitably going to grind against the limiting beliefs and dysfunctional programs ingrained deep into people that hold onto their conditioning and rigid perspectives like a potato farmer holds onto his straw hat during tornado season.

I posted a couple of photos on social media the other day, unknowingly stirring the pot and triggering a couple of followers.

I came across the lifeless body of a freshly ascended bird — a beautiful Barn Owl.

Does the Great Mystery conspire to place such signs and symbols in front of our path for a reason? That’s for us to individually decide. Either way, I like to honour the beauty and life of our other-than-human-kin, creating smudge fans, feather wands, talking sticks, altar items, and other meaningful pieces, if I do happen to stumble across their lifeless remains in the wild.

Take a moment to a check in, see if it’s appropriate to bring them forward with me, if no, say a prayer and move on, if yes, make an offering, collect the remains, prepare them appropriately, share a prayer, and respectfully return what’s left back to our Earth to undergo the natural decomposition process.

Nothing new about this — we know this practice has roots that extend back thousands of years.

But still, this behaviour is so taboo; so triggering to some, that their disagreement was made clear by a small slathering of condescending, patronizing, disrespectful and provoking remarks. Further sentiments from another suggested that splattering such things on social media defiles any notion of something being sacred.

This is not uncharted territory to me; I’ve experienced the spiteful tongue of gun-slingers and fire-bringers. Contained within, there’s always an opportunity to take a moment and reflect on whether there’s any truth to the wrathful purge, or if the slight sting is merely momentary; a somber embodiment that arises from the feeling that someone is rejecting and judging us, without even knowing who we really are or caring to understand.

(cue potentially unresolved childhood wounds around being worthy, accepted, misunderstood, etc etc etc)

When it comes to social media, my suggestion remains… it is what we make it to be.

It’s all perspective.

We can take these comments to heart. Or we can see them for what they are; the weeds of the subconscious; the thistles of the internet, rearing their heads to try and gain a holier than though view of the garden, based on the projection of their own unhealthy patterns and programs which are all about them, and nothing about you.

Further, if we’re trying to create an objective rift between the sacred and profane, and what should remain hidden from social media, we’re backsliding into the realms of dogma and taboo. If we open up our perspective enough, we recognize that everything can be sacred, and everything can be profane. It’s our perspective, our intention, our relationship to it. Those are the key pieces of the puzzle.

My creations and sharings revolve around a visceral sense -an experiential knowing- of the sacred, which then involves translating that into the technological realms of media, opening up a portal of consciousness; a vortex of ceremony and ritual, for others to peer into. If sharing things on social media defiles the sacred, damn, send me to hell with a one-way ticket; there’s absolutely no chance of greeting the harp-playing-angels at the pearly gates!

As someone who falls into the archetypal role of leader, healer, shaman, whatever other labels people want to slap on me from time to time, I can fall into the trap of thinking I have some kind of grand responsibility to be diplomatic and generous of my time and energy towards all the triggered people who come in with fires raging and guns blazing.

But as mentioned, there are just too many damn people with too many different perspectives to take on the responsibility to offer my time and energy to engage endlessly in conversations or debates; offering different perspectives with the intention to be better understood, or even more precarious a path to walk, to try and change opinions through the social media bubble. My medicine and my path veers elsewhere.

Perhaps humanity as a collective isn’t so different to the technology and social media that so many despise. We gave birth to it, after all. Outdated operating systems, dysfunctional programs, harmful viruses, the “snap to gridlock” setting switched on, with all new ideas and perspectives impenetrable to the conditioning and pre-existing paradigms locked firmly in place, creating the rigid consciousness bubble that contains a fair chunk of humanity.

Hey, let’s be clear, I know I fall into my own dysfunctional patterns and programs too! Don’t put me up on a pedestal!

The point that I arrive to is this: you wouldn’t let a stranger walk into the energy bubble of your home and start being abusive, aggressive, condescending or judgmental. Why let it happen in your energy bubble of social media?

Block and delete.

They’re there for a reason. It’s called energetic hygiene. Having boundaries. Clarify and assert them, or have others assert themselves over you.

Ultimately it’s up to us to define what our relationship is to social media, and any other potential tool, for that matter. Do we view the hammer as a dangerous weapon, or do we see it as a useful tool for deconstructing old pallets and making outdoor furniture? Generally most things are benign, it’s our perspective towards them which gives them charge.

Social media as medicine? Social media as a creative vehicle for sharing your truth? Social media as a portal into the realms of the sacred?

That’s up to you to decide, but ultimately, it’s all a matter of perspective. Is your perspective limiting you, or benefiting you?

I think I’ve made it clear which side of the fence I lean towards. Medicine is everywhere if we know how to look for it.