Well, well, well..... It has been some time since I have written. April to be more precise. I haven't had anything that has motivated me to turn on Blogger and, well, Blog. What have I been up to Lately?? Well I recently decided I was spending too much time, not doing anything at all, apart from the normal day to day grind of work, relax, cleaning etc etc.... I was spending hours, yes HOURS of my time each day surfing my Facebook news feed, which so many of us do, I wake up I check Facebook, I have breakfast I check Facebook, I watch sunrise on 7 with my morning coffee, but I'm actually looking at my Facebook news feed, the same thing I was reading an hour ago when I woke up. What has my life become? Obsessed with what people are doing, obsessed with people knowing what I'm doing with my day, not like they actually care one little bit. Just as, for the most part I couldn't care less that they just spent way too much shopping in the big smoke.
Facebook started as a social network, to connect people, as did most of our current technology. But now its a Dear Diary that the whole entire world or maybe just a closed group can read. And to be honest, I am guilty of airing dirty laundry, I am also guilty of posting filtered Instagram pictures of the amazingly healthy green, clean protein filled meal I just created, on my new sugar free adventure.
So what prompted me to 'De-Activate' you ask? well people putting all their life's crap on display, then getting upset when people had opinions about it and telling everyone to basically Eff off.... fair call, but if you are going to air your dirties on a social media outlet, be prepared for people to have an opinion on it, or people to be judgmental, it is part of us, as humans whether we like it or not to judge, to speak our thoughts, and social media has heightened this, say what you want with little in the way of negative consequences, its how life is these days, and its sad.
Sometimes, and I use that word lightly, it is entertaining, but mostly it has just made me realize that none of us are actually doing any living while we are 'Facebooking' or 'Tweeting' or 'Instagraming'.... we are trying to show off these amazing lives we live, while not really living, just showing off.
So, I am guilty as charged! But about 10 days ago I deactivated my Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, mostly to get myself back into reality and back into contact with people, I felt like social media, not just having a go at FB, but I felt like it was all de-sensitizing me to the world around me, to people. I feel like I cant even have a conversation with a stranger anymore. I've been texting so much for so long, I don't like to talk on the phone much anymore. How lazy is that?? I used to be on the phone everyday to my friends. Now, a phone call is rare, on both ends. I also found, no one has noticed I'm not on FB any longer. Not much of a surprise to me. Because people don't notice you, they never will, so as a quote I read goes "Wear what you want, do what you want, love who you want because no one was looking at you anyway".
I speak to close friends via text and some emails too. But I guess if you don't see someone post something, you don't think to text or call, if you don't see them online, then what would prompt you to think about them to call?
Last night I was laying in bed, and as I often do, regardless of having an active FB account or not, I was thinking about random people, this time about a girl, whom I don't really know, maybe met her years ago through a friend of a friend kinda thing, maybe said hello once, I remember that she had a baby and close to a year in her baby passed away, I thought about how its such a horrible thing to lose a child, and at the age of them gaining a little personality all of their own, how that had affected her. I think about people all the time, random people, people I know and people I don't. Then I wondered last night if people who I hardly know ever have me cross their minds or invade their thoughts for no apparent reason?
I have put in a better effort this past 10 days to be more connected with my friends, texting, calling and even writing letters, I know I know how 90's of me! But I loved writing letters to my friends, I loved getting mail, and I love surprising people with life's little treats when they least expect it.
My eyes are being opened, I am getting a better perspective on who I am, and what it is I want for myself, things that I am proud of for myself without looking for likes, comments and general attention on social media. Although I do love to share my travel experiences with people, I know not everyone is interested, some people can be uninterested because they have never stepped outside that comfort zone and travelled or they don't feel like the world is worth a look. I find myself always wondering how I was even able to do what I have done this year, I have been so broke, yet I have managed to travel most of the way around Australia. Its crazy. But that my friends is a whole other story....
Darwin, NT. First Sunrise
Although the fact that this is still social media, its not the self destructive kind. It's the kind where people have to be looking for your thoughts, looking for your insight and looking for a good read. And in saying that, I hope this has been a good read, that maybe my insight on why I have taken the steps to become more HUMAN and interact with people instead of my android screen, may help or encourage others to unburden themselves from the social media world and engage with the real world, at least for a little while, actually live, take in the moment instead of taking a picture or a video. Enjoy the quiet, enjoy the silence of a sunset or sunrise. It will all still be there when you log back in, and I believe that because I know this to be true, it hasn't phased me as much as I thought it would, I've missed some important events in my friends lives, but hey, if you want me to know, I'm a call or text away. I don't even know how long I will not be on Facebook, I thought I would get through a few days and log back in, now its 10 and I'm still not tempted to login. It feels good. So go feel good too, deactivate, log out, even if its just a day, test the waters of the real world!
Facebook started as a social network, to connect people, as did most of our current technology. But now its a Dear Diary that the whole entire world or maybe just a closed group can read. And to be honest, I am guilty of airing dirty laundry, I am also guilty of posting filtered Instagram pictures of the amazingly healthy green, clean protein filled meal I just created, on my new sugar free adventure.
So what prompted me to 'De-Activate' you ask? well people putting all their life's crap on display, then getting upset when people had opinions about it and telling everyone to basically Eff off.... fair call, but if you are going to air your dirties on a social media outlet, be prepared for people to have an opinion on it, or people to be judgmental, it is part of us, as humans whether we like it or not to judge, to speak our thoughts, and social media has heightened this, say what you want with little in the way of negative consequences, its how life is these days, and its sad.
Sometimes, and I use that word lightly, it is entertaining, but mostly it has just made me realize that none of us are actually doing any living while we are 'Facebooking' or 'Tweeting' or 'Instagraming'.... we are trying to show off these amazing lives we live, while not really living, just showing off.
So, I am guilty as charged! But about 10 days ago I deactivated my Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, mostly to get myself back into reality and back into contact with people, I felt like social media, not just having a go at FB, but I felt like it was all de-sensitizing me to the world around me, to people. I feel like I cant even have a conversation with a stranger anymore. I've been texting so much for so long, I don't like to talk on the phone much anymore. How lazy is that?? I used to be on the phone everyday to my friends. Now, a phone call is rare, on both ends. I also found, no one has noticed I'm not on FB any longer. Not much of a surprise to me. Because people don't notice you, they never will, so as a quote I read goes "Wear what you want, do what you want, love who you want because no one was looking at you anyway".
I speak to close friends via text and some emails too. But I guess if you don't see someone post something, you don't think to text or call, if you don't see them online, then what would prompt you to think about them to call?
Last night I was laying in bed, and as I often do, regardless of having an active FB account or not, I was thinking about random people, this time about a girl, whom I don't really know, maybe met her years ago through a friend of a friend kinda thing, maybe said hello once, I remember that she had a baby and close to a year in her baby passed away, I thought about how its such a horrible thing to lose a child, and at the age of them gaining a little personality all of their own, how that had affected her. I think about people all the time, random people, people I know and people I don't. Then I wondered last night if people who I hardly know ever have me cross their minds or invade their thoughts for no apparent reason?
I have put in a better effort this past 10 days to be more connected with my friends, texting, calling and even writing letters, I know I know how 90's of me! But I loved writing letters to my friends, I loved getting mail, and I love surprising people with life's little treats when they least expect it.
My eyes are being opened, I am getting a better perspective on who I am, and what it is I want for myself, things that I am proud of for myself without looking for likes, comments and general attention on social media. Although I do love to share my travel experiences with people, I know not everyone is interested, some people can be uninterested because they have never stepped outside that comfort zone and travelled or they don't feel like the world is worth a look. I find myself always wondering how I was even able to do what I have done this year, I have been so broke, yet I have managed to travel most of the way around Australia. Its crazy. But that my friends is a whole other story....
Although the fact that this is still social media, its not the self destructive kind. It's the kind where people have to be looking for your thoughts, looking for your insight and looking for a good read. And in saying that, I hope this has been a good read, that maybe my insight on why I have taken the steps to become more HUMAN and interact with people instead of my android screen, may help or encourage others to unburden themselves from the social media world and engage with the real world, at least for a little while, actually live, take in the moment instead of taking a picture or a video. Enjoy the quiet, enjoy the silence of a sunset or sunrise. It will all still be there when you log back in, and I believe that because I know this to be true, it hasn't phased me as much as I thought it would, I've missed some important events in my friends lives, but hey, if you want me to know, I'm a call or text away. I don't even know how long I will not be on Facebook, I thought I would get through a few days and log back in, now its 10 and I'm still not tempted to login. It feels good. So go feel good too, deactivate, log out, even if its just a day, test the waters of the real world!
This is a great read Jacqui! If only you were on Facebook to share it with all of the social media addicts out there :)
ReplyDeleteI can share it now haha
ReplyDelete