When I finally decided to cut the digital umbilical chord from Facebook it was a much larger relief than it was a heartache. Sure, I was losing many new connections I had made. Ones that I would have never made without it. I’ll be honest, the “hay day” of Facebook for me was pretty awesome. Meeting and conversing with people through common interest. The group pages were great to meet people with similar passions and values.
But over the last year, especially at the end of Spring in 2013, Facebook just felt “different” to me. Anxiety and addiction set in. I was no longer enjoying my time there. My time there just felt so wasted.
I can’t really pin down exactly why that happened. My energy there just seemed to dissolve once I placed it there. It was then that I realized something.
Why am I wasting my time gazing into an infinite feed of obnoxious UpWorthy videos, memes I don’t even laugh at and things that just don’t effect me and my life?
Rather than on Facebook, my time could be better spent in real life.
That’s not my dad, but it’s damn close. He has Facebook but never logs in. EVER. I can learn a lot from him still. More time with dad, less time with Facebook.
I have great friends and family around me that I can call, meet up with for coffee and actually do things with. We write music together, we shoot photographs, cook food, go for hikes and walks, drive across the state to see other friends, family and so much more. The last 4 years of my life have flown by faster than I expected. I will be 26 in May and I can’t even imagine how many days of time, possibly months I spend on Facebook from 2007 until 2013.
It’s crazy how much time I could have spent doing other things. I don’t regret the Facebook life I had. As imperfect as it was I made great new friends and landed new opportunities, but I am now to a point where I’m passed the pursuit gaining likes and love from people that probably don’t care about the things I do as much as I do.
I think that’s where I got lost. I think that’s where many of us get lost. We ache for recognition and excitement from people we are “friends” with when we forget what really matters. What matters is that are you enjoying what you are doing with your day? Are you celebrating the good things with people that actually care?
The people that actually care what I’m up to will call me, text me and actually see me in real life. Focusing on yourself, friends, family and actually accomplishing things is more important than what the rest of the world thinks. Not to mention, I would much rather talk with someone on the phone than comment on their status.
All of this thinking really gets me back to my roots. More creating, more writing more enjoying life and less being distracted by a social network that has ended up being more of a pain than anything. The results of being away from Facebook so far have been more than rewarding to me. The folks I met on Facebook that actually want to be my friend talk to me outside of Facebook already, so no worries there.
I’m more focused on my relationships and less on my relationship status. (see what I did there?)
I’m back to reality.
After leaving Facebook, I actually wrote my own book! Check out my new book. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Ps. Oh there goes gravity.
FIERRO
NEVER click on upworthy videos. They never tell you what they are about.
lol. ;)
After a 2 year break I went back to keep up with family and a few friends. I think that will be about the max I do. I think.
Yeah I just came to the conclusion that it’s not essential in my life. If I need to stay in touch I can call my family and friends on the phone. It’s much more personal and meaningful to me.