Friday, December 20, 2013

unPlugged

What I've learned from 2 months intentionally without Facebook.
  • Life is more peaceful.
  • It's good not to know everyone's business all the time.
  • My life is Wonderful, hard days and all.
  • Creating memories becomes more about creating them than sharing them instantly.
  • People noticed I was gone from facebook.
Life is more peaceful
     When I was checking my news feed on facebook constantly, there were times that disturbing things would pop up. Things that offended me would be staring me right in the face. I found myself stalking looking into the lives of people that I didn't even like that much. Now I can enjoy my family and not worry about what Suzie Q is up to. It makes for a happier family.
It's good not to know everyone's business all the time.
     I've found that if I don't know when Suzy has a runny nose, Jack went to wal-mart, or Sally got a haircut... It's better. When I see the people that I care about in person, it's nice to interact with them in a TRUE social setting. I can find out about their lives by talking to them FACE-to-FACE.
My life is Wonderful, hard days and all.
     There are those on facebook that will be the first to post when they are not having the best of days. They let you know when their children are disobedient, won't sleep, or are talking back. Or when they have a slight headache and everyone is getting on their nerves. They help others, including me, to feel like we aren't alone when our children won't eat their food, or they scream "No" to us 75 times a day, or start throwing temper tantrums every 5 minutes. It's nice to see the real people. Then there are the "hollywoods." Oh, we all know the type. Everything in their life is happy go lucky. Every picture they post is perfect. Perfectly filtered through an instagram lens (or whatever they do on instagram to make life look better than it does in real life.) Now you don't see the hollywoods post every day. Maybe not even every week. But when they do, oh it is so beautiful. I would see everyone's pictures and posts on facebook and feel inadequate. I would feel like I needed more money, better clothes, and just MORE, MORE, MORE to keep up with the Jones's. I was bitter, had low self-esteem, and was depressed. It was hard to distinguish that they were just as imperfect as ME.
Creating memories became more about creating memories....
      When you post a picture or status update to facebook, it gives such a thrill to see the number of comments or "likes." It's an adrenaline rush to see the feedback of your peers to your post. I found myself, while on Facebook, taking pictures just to post them to facebook. Creating circumstances that looked good in a status update, or picture just to see the responses I could get from people. It's so liberating to live a full, adventurous, fun life without worrying about the reactions others have to it. It makes me appreciate the everyday, a whole lot more and the special events more than I dreamed possible.
People actually noticed I was gone.
      I've had more than a handful of people come to me to tell me that they miss me on facebook. It's nice to know that there are people that noticed when I stopped posting 15 pictures of my boys every day. But every time someone asks, I feel like I need to justify the reason why I left facebook. No longer will I do this. I left facebook for Me. I left facebook for my family. For their to be peace in our home.

How will you know about things that happen on facebook, such as people being sick or dying?
I won't. And you know what? It's better that way. I don't want to find out when I log on facebook that someone has died, or someone is sick. It has been MUCH better to hear it with my ears than to read it.

Will we ever return to the facebook world?
As of right now, I don't forsee that happening.



No comments:

Post a Comment