The #JustBeHereWithMe Project
The #justbeherewithme project is about making room to reinvest some of that precious and valuable attention we spend on social media to explore other aspects of our life and our relationship with the world and to each other.
Take a deep breath and move your head to your heart for one moment.
Do you hear that?
SOMEONE (a child, a spouse, maybe an old friend) or SOMETHING (a creative project, a new adventure, the outdoors ) may be whispering, just be here with me to you.
This project is not about feeling guilty about life online, but about giving us all time & space to listen and respond to the whispers in our life. You can choose to participate...
For one day.
Or one week.
Or one whole month.
Whatever feels good to you.
Twice a year for one month (December and June) and once a week for one day (every Sunday) is when we officially take the communal #justbeherewithme sabbath from social media. We invite you to join us! OR just take a sabbath from digital life whenever feels good for you!
We aren't against life online. Quite the contrary! We are so grateful for the people we have met and connected with in this space! We believe the communities we have found on social media are real and valuable. That's why we are choosing to do this together. As a community. To support one another in becoming more present, whole, and interesting human beings.
As a yoga teacher I (@morgandaycecil) teach that love begins and ends in the act of paying attention. We give so much love to our mobile devices and our screens. What if we shared some of that with other things in our life? What would happen if for one month we set the intention together to pay a little less attention to the exciting things happening online, and a little more attention to the wonderful, quieter things happening in our heart?
How to participate:
- Set your intention. Get quiet and ask your heart, is there Someone or Something in my life that is whispering to me, Just be here with me? If the answer is yes, move on to step 2.
- Commit to a time-frame. Whether you choose to go social-media free for 1 day or 1 month, it doesn't matter. There is something valuable to simply setting aside space and time to honor the Just be here with me whisper.
- Invite your friends to join you. One of the biggest hurdles to going social-media free is the fear we are going to miss or miss-out on something. Doing this together with friends, family and community is helpful and motivating. Choosing to disconnect for awhile from life online can feel a little weird. Knowing you aren't alone can make it a lot easier. Before your "social-media-free" start-date, share this project with your friends. You can use one of the pics below, or your own. Use the hashtag #justbeherewithme and tag @morgandaycecil so your friends can learn more.
- Post the badge. This is your badge that says "I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I've just taken myself off the hook from having to keep up in the stream of social media. Just for awhile. I'll be back, but not before I honor the whisper to invest a little presence and energy and love into some other things tugging at my heart." It's short code for giving yourself and others permission to unplug.
- Sign the Petition for Presence and Share with Friends.
Petition for Presence
Signed: The moon. The stars. Summer. Your still-hot-cup-of-coffee. Your daughter. Your son. Your lover. Your heart. The green grass. The wild flowers. The waters you long to swim in. The color yellow. The color blue. Your favorite poem. Your favorite blanket. The wind in your hair. The waves on the ocean. The mountain air. Your dad. Your mom. The rain. The ice-cream cone. The butter sizzling with garlic in the frying pan. The grocery clerk with sad, kind eyes. Postcards waiting to be sent. The city squirrel. The country squirrel. Jupiter. The photo album. Your grandmother’s rosary. Your favorite song. Ink and paper. Your best friend. The money in your wallet. The fork in your hand. Brushes and paint. Downward Facing Dog. The color turquoise. The almost invisible shade of pink. God. The skyline. The earth beneath your feet. Your passion project. The shade of a giant tree. This moment, right here, now. Your bones. Your belly laugh. Your breath. Your breath. Your breath.
Add Your Name to the Petition