On May 26th, 15 days ago...I made the choice to ban myself from Facebook, at least for the summer. It was actually something I had been thinking about doing for a while, but my Par'Mach'Kai actually beat me to the punch when he deactivated his account in a fit of rage. What was he upset over? Probably the stupidity of people believing that FOX News, MSNBC and CNN were unbiased sources of information, or some right wing, conservative political meme that was posted, telling us how we shouldn't care where our food comes from and that Roundup Herbicide is safe to drink with cookies. But whatever the reason, he deactivated, and just like that, I officially unplugged as well!
Now I took a different approach, I actually posted an explanation as to why I was leaving for a while, and I never officially deactivated my account. I just left it alone, inactive...and I haven't been back since. Well, with the exception of accepting a friend request via the Facebook email notification on my smart phone. The friend request was from someone who will be working on the same new project that I will be working on, and I didn't want it to be awkward because I didn't accept the friend request for no other reason than I am no longer on Facebook these days. I haven't figured out how to stop the FB email notification thingy on my smart phone because apparently, once technology has you, it don't wanna let your fine ass go!
So how has my 15 days away been? Believe it or not, and at the risk of sounding a bit melodramatic, my stress levels have gone down. WAY down. I am no longer wasting time aimlessly scrolling down my newsfeed, reading up on the latest man-made environmental disasters or political arguments...viewing the latest (and according to some professionals, verging on narcissistic) selfies and vacation pics...or getting angry at the state of ignorant bliss that some feel quite content to exist within. I am no longer making myself angry with feelings of helplessness as to the state of the world and everything that's wrong in it. It's hard to believe how much this type of "in your face" information can actually affect a person's emotional health.
Now the irony is that once I finish this blog, it will automatically be posted on my Twitter and Facebook Feeds simultaneously, even though I have not personally visited either of these sites since I started my sabbatical. But I must confess, I do enjoy a little vitamin irony with my blogging, so there you go.
During this personal little sociological experiment, I have noticed that when Andy and I are watching TV together, sharing the same program, we interact more. Before our FB sabbatical, we'd be watching a program while on our laptops checking out our Facebook pages. We were sharing space without sharing space, if you know what I mean. We've since found out that it's way more fun when we are sharing down time and a show together...as opposed to being on two different computers, ignoring each other in favor of Facebook time.
Now I won't lie and say that I didn't miss being on FB. On the contrary, I went through withdrawals for the first week. I felt like, "Oh my God, what if I miss someone's birthday, what if people forget about me, and what if I miss out on EXTREMELY important information that I can't get anywhere else and WHAT IF, OH MY GAWD, WHAT IF???..."
Yeah. Well, the world did not cease to exist, I'm pretty sure people are not feeling cheated in life just because I haven't been dropping my pearls of philosophical wisdom along their Facebook trails, and I am positive that I was never the center of the universe anyway, so Facebook continued to successfully exist without me.
The thing we as humans have to realize and remember is this, that Facebook is simply a tool...and tools are just that, tools. They are something to accomplish a goal with. You use a shovel to dig a ditch. You use a car to get from one destination to the other. These things accomplish specific goals. Facebook can be used to accomplish specific goals as well, some positive, some negative.
*Facebook can be used as an awareness tool, bringing information to a broader audience, instantaneously.
*Facebook can be used as an ego boost, a way of receiving instant validation by posting selfies and waiting for others to comment how wonderful we are and how much we matter.
*Facebook can be used to tear others down, bullying those who have a hard time standing up for themselves, pushing others to the brink because of comments made from people hiding behind the safety (and anonymity) of their computers.
*Facebook can be used to reconnect with people we haven't seen for years, and it can be a way of staying in touch with family and friends out of state, and sharing pictures of loved ones.
*Facebook can be used to vent, rant, and complain after a particularly traumatic event.
*Facebook can be used as a way of hiding from the real world, providing a false sense of control, and a limited sense of community.
*Facebook can be a fun, relaxing spell in the middle of the day, something to break up the monotony and refresh our brains when used in small amounts.
*Facebook can be used to stalk unsuspecting people who may unwittingly give out enough information to allow said stalker to find them in the real world.
*Facebook can be used to become someone else, to hide away from who we really are.
The truth is, Facebook is an iconic invention that changed the course of our history, and will influence the path to our future in ways we haven't even discovered as of yet. The world will never be the same...not since social networking came into play...and the question as to whether that is a good thing or a bad thing will be dependent upon those who use this tool, and how they decide to use it.
So to all my Facebook friends, peeps, compadres...I will return eventually. Until then I am going to enjoy our limited Minnesota summer, try and get back into the studio with some of our new originals, do some home improvement, perform with Andy at a few open mic nights, spend as much time with my granddaughters as I can, and plan for my September trip out to Cali to see my son and his amazing family.
Enjoy Facebook for what it is, and in the process, don't forget to enjoy life for what it is as well...a beautiful, challenging, evolving and fleeting experience that once it's over...it's over.
Peace, love, and lots of summer sun,
Kat
P.S. If you want to leave a comment about this, share FB war stories, or even disagree and tell me I'm a nut job, feel free to do so on here in the comment section. I won't see anything you post on Facebook...at least for a few months.
Now I took a different approach, I actually posted an explanation as to why I was leaving for a while, and I never officially deactivated my account. I just left it alone, inactive...and I haven't been back since. Well, with the exception of accepting a friend request via the Facebook email notification on my smart phone. The friend request was from someone who will be working on the same new project that I will be working on, and I didn't want it to be awkward because I didn't accept the friend request for no other reason than I am no longer on Facebook these days. I haven't figured out how to stop the FB email notification thingy on my smart phone because apparently, once technology has you, it don't wanna let your fine ass go!
So how has my 15 days away been? Believe it or not, and at the risk of sounding a bit melodramatic, my stress levels have gone down. WAY down. I am no longer wasting time aimlessly scrolling down my newsfeed, reading up on the latest man-made environmental disasters or political arguments...viewing the latest (and according to some professionals, verging on narcissistic) selfies and vacation pics...or getting angry at the state of ignorant bliss that some feel quite content to exist within. I am no longer making myself angry with feelings of helplessness as to the state of the world and everything that's wrong in it. It's hard to believe how much this type of "in your face" information can actually affect a person's emotional health.
Now the irony is that once I finish this blog, it will automatically be posted on my Twitter and Facebook Feeds simultaneously, even though I have not personally visited either of these sites since I started my sabbatical. But I must confess, I do enjoy a little vitamin irony with my blogging, so there you go.
During this personal little sociological experiment, I have noticed that when Andy and I are watching TV together, sharing the same program, we interact more. Before our FB sabbatical, we'd be watching a program while on our laptops checking out our Facebook pages. We were sharing space without sharing space, if you know what I mean. We've since found out that it's way more fun when we are sharing down time and a show together...as opposed to being on two different computers, ignoring each other in favor of Facebook time.
Now I won't lie and say that I didn't miss being on FB. On the contrary, I went through withdrawals for the first week. I felt like, "Oh my God, what if I miss someone's birthday, what if people forget about me, and what if I miss out on EXTREMELY important information that I can't get anywhere else and WHAT IF, OH MY GAWD, WHAT IF???..."
Yeah. Well, the world did not cease to exist, I'm pretty sure people are not feeling cheated in life just because I haven't been dropping my pearls of philosophical wisdom along their Facebook trails, and I am positive that I was never the center of the universe anyway, so Facebook continued to successfully exist without me.
The thing we as humans have to realize and remember is this, that Facebook is simply a tool...and tools are just that, tools. They are something to accomplish a goal with. You use a shovel to dig a ditch. You use a car to get from one destination to the other. These things accomplish specific goals. Facebook can be used to accomplish specific goals as well, some positive, some negative.
*Facebook can be used as an awareness tool, bringing information to a broader audience, instantaneously.
*Facebook can be used as an ego boost, a way of receiving instant validation by posting selfies and waiting for others to comment how wonderful we are and how much we matter.
*Facebook can be used to tear others down, bullying those who have a hard time standing up for themselves, pushing others to the brink because of comments made from people hiding behind the safety (and anonymity) of their computers.
*Facebook can be used to reconnect with people we haven't seen for years, and it can be a way of staying in touch with family and friends out of state, and sharing pictures of loved ones.
*Facebook can be used to vent, rant, and complain after a particularly traumatic event.
*Facebook can be used as a way of hiding from the real world, providing a false sense of control, and a limited sense of community.
*Facebook can be a fun, relaxing spell in the middle of the day, something to break up the monotony and refresh our brains when used in small amounts.
*Facebook can be used to stalk unsuspecting people who may unwittingly give out enough information to allow said stalker to find them in the real world.
*Facebook can be used to become someone else, to hide away from who we really are.
The truth is, Facebook is an iconic invention that changed the course of our history, and will influence the path to our future in ways we haven't even discovered as of yet. The world will never be the same...not since social networking came into play...and the question as to whether that is a good thing or a bad thing will be dependent upon those who use this tool, and how they decide to use it.
So to all my Facebook friends, peeps, compadres...I will return eventually. Until then I am going to enjoy our limited Minnesota summer, try and get back into the studio with some of our new originals, do some home improvement, perform with Andy at a few open mic nights, spend as much time with my granddaughters as I can, and plan for my September trip out to Cali to see my son and his amazing family.
Enjoy Facebook for what it is, and in the process, don't forget to enjoy life for what it is as well...a beautiful, challenging, evolving and fleeting experience that once it's over...it's over.
Peace, love, and lots of summer sun,
Kat
P.S. If you want to leave a comment about this, share FB war stories, or even disagree and tell me I'm a nut job, feel free to do so on here in the comment section. I won't see anything you post on Facebook...at least for a few months.