Into the Abyss…of Social Media Withdrawl

As I begin to write this post, I feel like I’m climbing out of a cave from below the earth, pushing open an old rickety door to feel the sunshine on my face. I’ve forgotten about the world out there! The world that I’m talking about is the wonderful world of social media. Last month I posted about how I was taking a break from social media from Thanksgiving to Christmas. You can read more about my reasons for doing so here. I thought it would be fun to give you all a quick update on how my social media fast is going, despite the fact that I can’t even “share” this post with people. I’ve had lots of family and friends ask me how I’m doing being away from Facebook (though I’m taking a break from Twitter and Pinterest too) and I surprised myself when I told them, “Great actually! I don’t even miss it!” When I decided to do this thing, way back in April, I thought it would be a real struggle. But I’ve found myself with zero longings for Facebook status updates and cute pictures of my friends’ kids. The weird part is that I kind of feel like I’m living in one country, while all of my friends live in another. If you’ve ever lived overseas, you know that it can feel surreal to think that all of your friends back home are carrying on with their normal lives while you live out a completely different existence in your new country. For me, my new country is free of social media and all of my friends and family are living in Facebook land. You can be sure there are times where I wonder, “I wonder what so and so is doing…” And then I realize I better snap out of it before my baby throws more food on the floor. The other thing I’ve noticed is that some of the thoughts from my head that may have turned into status updates or Tweets, have become more personal texts to actual, real life friends. I’ve found myself interacting more with people who are actually in my life. Sometimes it’s a phone call to my mom or my husband, and sometimes it’s a text to a good friend. I know that I’m naturally hard wired to be social in real life, and interact with as many people as possible, so without social media, I’ve found other ways to interact. In the wake of the horrible school shootings in Conneticut, I found myself feeling tempted to get back on Facebook and say a public thank you to all of the men and women who are teachers, policemen and other public servants. Those people saw some horrible images that day when they walked into the school after the shootings. Instead of logging onto Facebook (which I can’t do since my husband changed my password) I wrote a personal text to my brother who works in law enforcement and told HIM thank you for all that he does. How often do any of us take time to tell the people in our lives that we value them or appreciate them? For me, I think I could do much better at this. Basically, I can report that it’s been a good month without social media. I’ve been able to really enjoy this season. We were able to celebrate Christmas in a way that is enjoyable for our family, without the extra input from well meaning Christian bloggers and friends that share how they celebrate Christmas. If you are thinking about taking a break, do it! You may find that you really enjoy the way life used to be!