I decided to try giving up my Facebook newsfeed for Lent. I haven't participated in Lent in over a decade, but I always liked the idea of doing something to better myself. And I have a confession to make (and I'm making it because I believe there are a lot more people in my boat than are willing to admit) - Justin and I play on Facebook waaaaay more than is appropriate (in my opinion). That and I was sick of seeing so many controversial, bold statements being made by a lot of people and groups I was part of. I decided we needed a break. We needed to pay more attention to each other and to our boys and to the people we were around in social settings.
But I think that's what we need to work on the most - WHEN we play on our phones, more so than what we're doing on them.
I like Facebook. I stay in touch with my friends, with out-of-town family members, with clients. I post pictures of my boys so people can see what they're up to as they grow. I see what my friends are doing and it gives us more to talk about when we're together. I like seeing my friends' pictures and statuses. I'm part of groups of like-minded people, and I usually learn new things through them. I also do a lot of advertising on Facebook for my business, and I share things I feel are important by posting articles I've read or snippets of articles, which makes the information get around more quickly than these blog posts.
I've missed out on things in this short week. A few friends had babies, a few other friends had children who reached milestones, and different new around town has been shared that I didn't get to see. People brought things up while in massage sessions with me that I would have known about had I been online, and I felt out of the loop. I guess it's not overly important that I know all the latest gossip, but some things are actually important and not simply gossip. As a business owner I almost feel like it's necessary to be online. As a business owner you need to keep up with the times, stay current with social networking, stay in touch with your community the most efficiently.
Facebook can also hold a lot of drama. People get courageous when they're not face-to-face with a person, and they feel they can say whatever they want, however they want to. And they do. I've seen it, and it does bother me.
But, in this first week of Lent, I've realized that it's not the use of Facebook that's preventing me from being a better person, it's HOW I use it. And that goes for everyone. If you're going to use it to stir up drama, yeah that's not good. If you're going to browse it when you're supposed to be playing with your children, or on a date with your significant other, or hanging out with your friends, that's not good either. And unfortunately, Justin and I have been guilty of that.
So for Lent, and forever after, we're going to make an effort to not play on it. If we're alone and nobody needs or wants our attention, we can play on Facebook. If not, our phones need to be put aside so we can focus on the people who are present with us in real life, not on cyber space. Cyber space can wait. Real life is happening now.
And on that note, we're going to have family movie night. Have a great night!
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