Baylee's Thoughts on Media

My sister lives out in Maryland with our one and only, famous nephew. My parents, siblings, and I are totally obsessed with him and are so upset that we can't be close to see him grow up, but we FaceTime them often individually and at family gatherings to stay close and connected. What a great blessing that is! My husband and I have plans to move next June for medical school and I've pondered about what it might be like when we are away from family and starting our own family. Sometimes I am sad when I think about the fact that we won't be able to be physically close to them or be able to go to family gatherings; however, I am grateful for technology and media these days so we can stay connected and allow are kids to get to know our family personally. I'm grateful specifically for FaceTime for allowing for (almost) face to face contact with family.

This week, the media that I've used the most (next to my phone) has been TV. Honestly, even though I know that overindulging and binging in TV is not good, it has been a big help to clear my mind and destress me at the end of each night. Projects, papers, and presentations are in full-force right now and finals are just around the corner. I'm always grateful for a 20 minute episode of a funny TV show at the end of the night to calm me down a bit. ;)

This past week for Thanksgiving, my mom, sisters, and I went to New York City for a couple days. It was such a blast and is always so fun to see during Christmastime. This wasn't my first time there, but I am always surprised at how materialistic the city is in general. It is crazy how much money goes into the adds that are shown on the big screens on Times Square--they literally never shut off all night. It made me think of how media is such a large part of our modern day existence. Advertising for material things is so common and if we use our social media accounts to "advertise" for positive things such as the gospel or family, we can make a difference. It may be smaller of a difference than those ads at Times Square but it will be more important and lasting.

I loooooove Christmas music--always have. During Christmas-time (meaning after Halloween in my family), we would almost always have Christmas music playing around the house. It always brought such a good, happy spirit to our home and somehow brought a lot of comfort. Maybe it was the tradition and consistency that brought be comfort, but the music itself played a large part in my joy about the holiday season. I've already begun listening to Christmas music wherever I go and I love it! The familiar songs and singers bring back so many good childhood memories. It is something I want to continue in my future family so my children can enjoy the joy of Christmas music. Luckily, I married a man who likes to listen to Christmas music right after Halloween also. ;)

I don't have much to say about media this week--I was so swamped with homework and work that I didn't have time to engage much. However, as I went running and as I've tried to run farther and push myself harder each day, music has played a huge role in my ability to run. For some reason, I just CANNOT run if I'm not listening to music! I think it has to do with the fact that it keeps me on pace and keeps my mind off of the fact that my body wants to stop. So this week I've been grateful for music and its support in my fitness.

This past week in class, we discussed the effects of violent media. I'm pretty sure my husband feels like he's taking this class right alongside me because every day after class I become a jabber-box about what we learned and can't stop explaining to him the crazy things we discuss. I just find it all so interesting! Anyway, we watched Troy (an edited version) with some friends this past weekend because my husband just read the  Iliad  and was really interested in the story. I found myself more effected by the violence in the movie than I typically would be just because my senses were heightened to the negative effects of violent media after our class. I'm definitely more inclined now to be an ACTIVE consumer of media and be selective about what I watch/consume as I now know that it does indeed affect us--whether we think so or not!

Today in class, we discussed "fitspiration" and how it has become a large, recent trend in today's social media sites. Instead of focusing on becoming thin, this movement seeks to make women desire to be "strong--not skinny." Earlier this year, I began working out 4-5x per week and have continued and loved this habit, even today. I've come to enjoy what my body is capable of and love to see new lines of muscles where I had never seen them before. As I developed this habit, I began to follow more and more social media influencers who were strong, beautiful women whose feeds were inspiring to reach new physical heights and abilities. I wanted to be like them--I still want to be like them. But after talking about the effect that this kind of feed has on women (it has the same effect as women encouraging thinness), I took a step back and thought about how I have really viewed my body in the last year because of this influence. I wouldn't say I am obsessed wi...

My exposure to media has been very limited this week due to my continuing President Nelson's challenge to do a ten-day fast from social media. I have only been exposed to media relating to work, school, church, and some television. It has been a little harder than I expected--I typically look on social media sites when I am bored or need a moment to clear my head. It has become a habit. However, I've realized over the course of this week that social media is mostly where I have gotten my worldly influence; this has been enlightening because I'm realizing that if I want to be less worldly and less influenced by it, then I just need to limit myself to social media. I hope to continue this pattern and only introduce it in my life in limited amounts so that I can remain unspotted from the world and continue to enjoy the extra time I have each day because of my not looking at social media sites.

I love General Conference weekend and all it entails. My family has created many traditions around these two weekends each year, which makes the experience even more enjoyable and anticipated. I loved the challenge President Nelson gave in the women's session about taking a 10-day fast from media and other things that may cause you to have impure thoughts. The Church has talked a lot about using social media as a positive platform to express beliefs, truths, and positive, uplifting comments in order to change the current trend with negative and impure content saturating the web. So I thought it was interesting that President Nelson would challenge us to take a 10-day fast from social media as opposed to posting positive content on our feeds. This challenge, though I am in the middle of it now, has taught me so far that even though media can be used for so much good, we must not be so focused on it every day. It shouldn't take up every waking spare moment that we have (like it d...

This year, I've been trying a lot harder to work out frequently--that is, at least 3-5 times per week. To motivate myself, I began following individuals on social media who I admire and who post various exercises and workouts (Kayla Itsines is a good example of one who is well-known). It is so much harder to go to the gym with no plan of what you want to accomplish but when it's given to you, it is easy to just do the exercise on the post and know that it will be effective. These motivational Instagram influencers have really helped me maintain my motivation throughout this entire year; I have only missed working out at least 4x a week probably two weeks out of this year and I attribute much of it to the media I've been exposed to helping me develop better habits and positive thinking. Another use of media that has been very beneficial for me and my health is MUSIC! I don't like to hear myself breathe when I'm working out (especially when I run--I breathe loudly ha...

This week I learned about two horrific events happening with two friends I had long ago--one from my mission and one a couple friend of my husband and me. The friend from my mission passed away and the other friend is going through a divorce with her husband of just one year. I was informed of both of these incidents through social media of all places, so it came as a huge shock to me and even though I don't interact with these two on a daily basis, my heart is still heavy at the recent events in their and their family's lives. I hurt for them and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them and the pain they and their families must be going through. However, one great form of strength that my friend experiencing the divorce has mentioned as well as the family of my friend who passed away is social media and the outreach they've felt from hundreds of people. People have commented, DM-ed, sent love, quotes, and support all through the Internet. Because of social medi...

This week I've been noticing the positive aspects of media specifically relating to the fire in Utah. It has been a hardship for many families who have had to evacuate and uproot themselves, unsure of when they'll be able to return to their homes. I know of a young woman who became a new mother just as the fire began--her home was one of the first rounds of evacuations and she has yet to return home since having her first child. What a challenge that would be! Trying to adjust to being a new mother while unable to be in the comfort and safety of your own home.. Well because of media, all of Utah, especially Utah county is aware of the needs and challenges that families are facing with this fire. I saw a post on Instagram from someone mentioning how there has been no one needing to use the evacuation facilities because families are taking other displaced people into their home to provide them a place to stay while the tragedy pursues. Media has been such a tool for creating awa...