Not anti-media, as in all the election-crazy news people. But anti-social media...
My hubby says I tend to be all in or all out. That I go on these media fasts and wash my hands of it...and then binge. Lol. Maybe so.
But lately I'm just questioning it all. I think it's motherhood, honestly. For a lot of reasons.
I have a lot of single friends and I remember being single. I don't want to be the blog/FB/instagram post that makes them feel alone.
I have a lot of friends that struggle with infertility. I don't want to be the baby picture post that cuts deeper into an ever-present wound. I remember that wound.
I want to be real and post the hard times. But I also want to be respectful of the other people in my life-- my husband and child-- and not share their stories that are so intertwined with mine.
And the final reason is life is so good and precious right now that I find myself less entranced by social media...and even disgusted when I find myself wasting time on it. The moments when I'm checking my phone and I look down and see my daughter watching me. These years are fleeting and it's not worth being distracted from the gifts God has placed in the here and now. My brain is fried enough from lack of sleep and baby care, I don't need to fry it more with technology. ;)
Even if that means life gets a little smaller.
Part of me is craving the small and simple. I don't need more FB friends; I need to pour more into my current friends. I don't need more decor or recipe ideas; I need to simply use what I have and my own creativity. I don't even need to document my moments with Instagram; remember those days when I actually printed out pictures and scrapbooked?
These are the thoughts mulling around in my brain these days. I have a feeling they're going to give birth to a decision in a few weeks as Advent begins. My favorite Church season. It's all about the small and the simple.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to do something drastic. Like give up all social media for the month. Maybe I'll even call it the Old-Fashioned Christmas experiment.
Social media has completely and undeniably changed our lives-- and our brains. I'm just not sure I want to be part of that anymore even if I'm missing out on some of the good stuff of it. The reality is that while we may be missing out on things if we don't have social media...more and more I'm being convinced that we're also missing out on things if we do.
What do you think about social media? Am I being crazy?
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I agree! I think, sometimes, about life before we had Internet in our home-it was so simple, and I was able to focus so much better on what I was reading, doing, or creating. Since I do rely on social media for keeping track of events that are happening and with websites that I write for, I don't really want to cut it out entirely. But, starting in Advent-maybe I'll take it beyond-I'm going to have a personal rule of no more than two tabs open on my computer. I've found it really easy to open tons of tabs and get distracted and try to read multiple articles at once, but then I'm not letting myself really into what I'm reading or doing. So definitely simplifying over here :) I also have a rule where I save my computer work for Peter's naptime. If he's being crazy and I want to watch something while I bounce him, I'll quickly check FB and then watch a show on Amazon Prime or something, but otherwise, I try really hard to keep my computer closed when he's so that I can focus more on playtime with him. I still need to get better about this, but it's what I try to do.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you on feeling disgusted at the scrolling sometimes! That's so true about realizing what we DO have when we're not focused on social media. I've been thinking about this a lot too, and would like to at least have a strict evening time where there's no more computer or phone. I've also been making an effort to not check anything first thing in the morning, and wait until after breakfast and the daily reading. Hmmm, so much to think about! Also, from a single girl out there on social media, please don't worry that your sharing will hurt! There's always someone that could be hurt or offended, and it's just impossible to make everyone happy. When things come up that cut deep, it's our job to close it or look away, right? Seeing other people share the ups and downs of whatever their life situation is the best, even if it's not where I am :-) Happy almost-Advent!
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