for awhile now, i've had these persistent thoughts of disconnecting from media and technology, whether it be for a day, a week, limiting the number of hours, whatever. every time i feel like i'm being distracted by facebook, or pinterest, or twitter, or my email - i have this twinge of guilt because lots of things are more important, most things are more important. like family. and silence.now it sounds silly and obvious, and is honestly just embarrassing, but social media can be like an addiction. it has so many pro's - for it's ability to relate, to catch up, to keep in touch, to network, to share work, thoughts, photos. i appreciate all of that. but lately i've just felt like all in all - it's too many voices, drowning out my own inner voice. and i'm not cool with that.
so here's where it gets kind of ridiculous... i start looking up software that limits access to facebook. i end up downloading a mac app called self control (irony to the hundredth power) and then laugh at myself a lot. however, i used it - i blacklisted facebook & twitter for a day - and it was a really good starting point. then i decided to have my OWN self control and just turn my computer off during the day for a few days. i deleted facebook and twitter from my phone and i've been just living - not thinking in status updates and tweets. not at all distracted by anything. and i must say.... it's been pretty freaking glorious.
i know they say -- everything in moderation. which i can totally buy into, but honestly to me moderation is 15-20 minutes a day, max. to commit anything more to it than that just seems like too much to me. so, i'm going to see how life looks - without all that noise. it's been about a week so far and honestly, i'm really into it. and maybe a little bit upset that i didn't start sooner. PS: blogging is cathartic and overall just serves a lot of purposes for me, so that's not going anywhere. but i am shifting my focus away from keeping up with acquaintances and perfect strangers' lives to listening and loving my people and sharing what i feel like sharing with the people who choose to listen and love, too.
but i've been reminding myself on an almost constant basis to disconnect, and connect to what matters more. like this:
i can not even begin to tell you how in line you are with me and how frequently. i spent my weekend discussing the ways i feel addicted to all of those forms of social media and how being in the moment is IMPORTANT to me and i don't want to lose it. limiting myself (daily or taking hiatuses) is something i've been mulling over a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteso often, i feel like you are speaking words STRAIGHT from my heart. so grateful you are my friend.
ps -- you still owe me a life update, and that doesn't count as facebook hours. you can even email it to me instead if you want. :)
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. And I don't think your crazy at all for taking the steps you took! Better to be aware and do what needs to be done to make a change than waste life on all the unimportant things.
ReplyDeletethanks for this reminder.
Ahh.... so true. I loved this post, and I feel enlightened now that I've found out there is a "Self Control" app. That actually made me laugh out loud! You have a gift with words, my friend. :)
ReplyDelete