Im back, but only kinda sorta. As a gift to myself every year, I deactivate my facebook account on my birthday. So, if you were worried (or relieved) that I unfriended you, no such luck! Im still here. In short, and maybe this is just a wee bit too curmudgeony of me, I find birthday greetings via facebook to be a little too effortless to be bothered with. Im sure that for many of you it is an honest display of affection, and the thought truly counts, but, noting my own behavior on the other side of this annual greeting, I have to say that my soul is not especially invested in the birthday wishes I hand out, which is why I stopped giving them out on facebook. I feel that social media has corrupted our hearts and minds into believing that every little click and thumbs-up we do on our screens equates to actually doing or accomplishing something. Im not here to make proclamations on how you should be living your life though. So when I say that Im back but only kinda sorta, what I mean is that I will be implementing an experiment for the next year. I intend to only interact on facebook on the new moon and the full moon until my 41st birthday. My hypothesis is that doing this will reduce the overall TMI, gibberish, and clutter that Ive been simultaneously propagating and subjecting myself to. For the past couple of weeks, Ive definitely found myself more energized and understanding myself more authentically. Internet Silence truly is golden, because it gives you space to become intimate with yourself and your immediate geography and people. It is more difficult than you realize, I am guessing, to have an authentic relationship with yourself when you admit the quantity of other peoples thoughts and proclamations into your psyche that facebook has to offer on an hourly basis. It is exhausting and mentally draining and you may not even realize it until you take a break. Dont get me wrong, I think that social media definitely has a worthy function as a little trickling brook, but what I have found myself in is a deluge of every passing thought, whim, cause, and conspiracy generated by myself and others. In the words of 80s band Information Society, I want to know what youre thinking, tell me whats on your mind...but only as much as we both can effectively handle. I do want to know the things that you are sharing and think are important, and I also assume that you want to hear from me. That is friendship, and friendship should not be taken for granted--that is why I am putting our time together on the internet at a premium every new moon and full moon. So, if you didnt know it, today is the new moon, a great day for new beginnings and adventures. Yours only and ever truly,
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:16:33 +0000