I made a decision earlier this week--on June 21st to be exact. Summer Solstice--the 1st day of summer. I'm kicking off my season and using this day as my fresh start, my diving board, my launching point.I deleted Facebook off my phone.
No, I didn't go cold turkey and cut throat and cancel my account. I'm not ready for that kind of social media drought and craziness quite yet. I still have the auto login set on my laptop and iPad. However, I am a die-hard phone user, largely due to it's portability. It's my camera, my phone, my clock, my crossword puzzles, my hand-held research center, my podcast player, my extension of my left arm. It's my main device I use. Therefore, to go FB-free on my phone is a pretty extreme move for me.
The reasons were many. I was finding myself sinking into the abyss of TotalTimeSuck. Boredom or mindlessness beget scrolling and trolling FB for the latest and greatest (most of which were neither). Add in, the noise of the current news/politics (and affiliated agitation), which seemed heavily strewn this week on just about everyone's FB threads amd wasn't any help to my mood. Plus, especially in the down-time of summer, I was noticing it was at odds, countering my seasonal shift to spend at least 200 hours outdoors. I'm also analyzing my kids' tech time this summer, while also reading Thomas Kersting's book ""Disconnected: How to Reconnect Our Digitally Distracted Teens," which in turn is causing a cold hard look at my own attachment. Teens aren't the only one distracted here in this household.
It was just too easy to toe-dip into Facebook again and again, for far too long at a time. And my main escape-way has been primarily this one app.So I hit that little shaking app "x" Thursday morning, watched it disappear, and haven't turned back.
I will say, most of that first day, I was feeling pretty darn liberated. The shackles were off. Clearly since willpower alone couldn't do that for me, I needed something bolder and bigger. Believe it or not, even though it literally was the longest day of the year, it didn't actually feel like it. In fact, quite the reverse. I started binge watching a show with my kids that my daughter had been asking us to watch, and I really watched it, without surfing when bored. I actually gave it a chance. I actually asked for another episode.
That feeling didn't just last one day.
Summer solstice for many traditions symbolizes birth. May it be a sort of rebirth and reconnection to what's around me, whether that means my family, the great outdoors, or a just plain better use of my time in general!
Have I solved my concerns over the tech time of the others in my house? Not yet. That's next week's tackle! 😉
No-Facebook sign http://www.staceyeburke.com/blog/8-reasons-your-law-firm-should-not-be-on-facebook; Disconnected book pic from https://www.amazon.com/Disconnected-Reconnect-Digitally-Distracted-Kids/dp/1541130979/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1528480551&sr=1-1&dpID=51wMZQBl2eL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=detail; Summer Solstice image from https://themuseinthemirror.com/2015/06/18/the-magic-of-the-summer-solstice-sacred-celebrations-for-midsummer/
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