My true life experiences create the best inspiration to write a blog post. This past weekend was no exception. When I tried to sign into my Instagram account on Saturday, I received a notice in red letters that my account had been SUSPENDED! My immediate reaction was “Suspended??? I just got on Instagram! What does this mean?” They give you an option to appeal this suspension by clicking on a button. You then enter your password and a prompt shows up that says something like “We will review your account and notify you within 24 hours of the outcome.” Instagram gives no explanation, no reason…..NOTHING! The only thing it tells me is that I violated the rules and to review the policy and user agreement. That’s it!
Instagram is owned by META (Facebook). I find this strange that I have most of the same posts on my Facebook business page as I have posted on Instagram. So, what is different? Why didn’t Facebook put me in jail too?
Over the next 24 hours, I experienced quite a few emotions and none of them felt good! I started with SHOCK that my account was suspended for doing something offensive on social media. First of all, I am a rule follower. Second thing is that I would never say anything offensive to anyone on social media.
The SHOCK quickly turned into FRUSTRATION because there is nobody to ask which rule I violated. I searched and searched all over the internet to find some way to communicate with anyone that could give me some answers. They give you no option to email anyone. How do I know what NOT to do next time, if they don’t tell me what I did wrong? This reminds me of when kids get into trouble and they don’t quite understand what they did. The parent says “You don’t know what you did? Take a time out and think about it.” This Instagram suspension brought me back to feeling like a child…I’m getting punished and have no idea what I did wrong.
From there it shifted to ANGER because now one of my colleagues said that someone had probably reported one of my posts for some reason. I tried to log in to my account once again to see if they removed my suspension. Nope! But now this big red message came up that my account has “been disabled for violating terms.” WHAT??? Now it’s DISABLED???
This is when the lowest vibration I could feel had reared it’s ugly head……SHAME! I know from all my training in EFT and by working with clients that nothing positive comes from SHAME. If I allow it to resonate too long in my body, things can continue to get worse. I was not going to give this low vibration of SHAME the opportunity to plant seeds and grow roots. SHAME was not going to get comfortable in my energy system or my body!
I began “tapping” immediately and ranted about how META’s message made me feel, once again, the ANGER at META and whoever may have reported me began to surface. I recognized how quickly I released the SHAME and moved back into ANGER and I know this is a positive shift. Now I am angry because META doesn’t care how they make people feel. They can’t even have a staff available to let people know why they are put in jail. They are such a mega million dollar organization that they don’t need to care how frustrated people get with them. I continued to tap, tap, tap and talk and rant about the entire situation and how it made me feel until I naturally felt the need to take a deep breath. It was then that I felt my shoulders drop down and relax.
Since moving through and releasing these emotions, a few things have come to me. My reason for getting on Instagram in the first place was for my business and to promote my WESOS Chapter meetings. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate if Instagram is the place for my business. Did Instagram do me a favor by disabling my account? I don’t know yet, but I’ll continue to “tap” on this issue until I get full clarity of what my next step will be.
This is an example of the power of “tapping” (EFT) and how we can bring ourselves from an intense feeling and emotion to calm, relaxation and clarity in a short period of time. It’s a great tool to have in your back pocket 24 hours a day no matter where you are in the world. We never know when META or someone else will shove us into to the lowest vibration possible as a result of the message they message us.
