Feb 3, 2011

Disconnect, Deactivate or Detonate.




I deactivated my Facebook account for a while.
I know, right? wtf?
How hard was that?
After the initial deep breath and eyes as big as saucers, I clicked the deactivation button. 
And laughed at myself for my dumb reaction. 
Which told me one thing, I really liked facebook but wasn't addicted. (Go me!) 

Now it's a personal challenge to see how long I can go without it. Honestly? I can go a very long time. It's not that hard. Huh.. who'da thunk it?
My eldest says it's freeing. She did hers last week. Albeit for very different reasons. 

Facebook chains a body. 
To a computer. 
To a laptop. 
To a cell phone. 

From misunderstandings to out and out nastiness, from stopping myself from ramming my fist in someone's face ( I'm short, can be mean but I don't smack people because of their lack of intelligence and pettiness, even if it was deserved) to coming home an emotional basket case to an 'event' on facebook, I decided to deactivate my account for a bit. It's the only thing I had control of this month, it seems. 
I'm going to take some time to do some of my favorite things with my newfound facebookless time. 
Perhaps some reading
Throw in a wee bit of writing
maybe even pick up my camera? Suewweeet!  ( if it can EVER warm up )
I know I'm sounding like I spend all my time on fb, I really don't, but I do go check it out on an average of approx. four times a day. How many times a day do you venture into Facebook land? Be truthful ;-) ( and cell/iPad updates count.

One of my besties said to start anew Feb 1st. The start of the Chinese calendar. She believes what I went through last year wouldn't end till Jan 31st. 
I'll let you know after a month. I have faith the glass is half full. 

In the meantime, those who will/need/want to stay in touch will do so via email. ( sounds archaic doesn't it? What did we all do before Facebook, let alone email??! ) 
I have to admit, I've enjoyed emails I've gotten by my friends since. It strikes me how much more personal it is. 
Most of them are warning me not to issue them the challenge of deactivating , even for a few days. I will win hands down. Awww it's ok, I'm not going to. This was my own challenge to myself, and I did it! 
As personal as Facebook can get, and we ALL know how uncomfortably personal it can be,  it's exactly the opposite at the same time. 

Don't get me wrong, as old Arnie says, " I'll be back" I like aspects of it.
But for now, I'm enjoying kicking around the chains of Facebook that are at my feet. 
When I activate it again, those chains won't shackle me because I know I can walk away from it.
Yay me. :-)







6 comments:

  1. Jamie, good for you. I have a FB page but haven't visited it in a while. There's just to much going on in my little world. I don't miss it other than to find out what my granddaughters have gotten into lately.
    So, I'm not really into FB and posing every little breath I take.....LOL
    Take care and I look forward to seeing some of your photos.

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  2. Yay for you!!

    Here's Another Perspective:

    Unlike moms and dads with busy lives and kids at the helm, with school, activities, sports and life to attend to, I have no children. In fact, I live 2,012 miles away from my family.

    Before Facebook I was depressed. I was shut out to the 'other world' where all of my friends and family were. I had no interaction or communication with meaningful people in my life. I say meaningful because the regular 'hi, how are you' people or coworkers was at best, average. The ones that mattered to me were extinct, with the exception of the occasional 'I've been busy' emails to catch up on goings on.

    Then came Facebook. I could hug Mark Zuckerberg. My life was now connected. To every state, every person I chose and the daily happenings to those I cared about. I am very particular in allowing only 'qualified' people to see my daily life. I don't care about Jimmy with the high school crush on me, I care about the people that matter to me. It opened my world up, brightened my day and lifted my spirits in a way that no one else could.

    I can understand how people have taken it overboard. But I am not one of those people. I'm quite disciplined in what I say, and how often I say it, if at all. My security settings are up there with the white house (riiight) or so I think, and I'm not searchable via the web.

    Without it would be sadness, in this quiet house. So, kudos to you Jamie, turn around and hug those people that matter to you, and I will virtually hug mine. ;)

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  3. I for one didn't want FB and refused to get it. After pressure from JAMIE, I thought about it and then the day my daughter Kim got it, I thought ah what the heck. That was two years ago right about now. I have thoroughly enjoyed FB, the family I have kept in touch with and the friends I had lost but now have found. It's a fun thing to me. It doesn't absorb my life but YES, I am guilty of checking it several times daily. Hey, I could be a druggie or a drunk, I'm not....I love to chit chat and thats what we do on FB!


    ~Mary

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  4. Congrats on deactivation! You are brave! :D

    I use Facebook to stay connected with my family who is scattered wordwide. I would not have known what is going on in their lives without it ...

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  5. That's wonderful for you..and I do have your e-mail addy ;) We all have situations in our lives that demand we take notice and pay attention too. At our ripe age I think we control things better than when we first got hooked into net life..I think you know of what I speak ..love ya (((HUGS))

    Janice

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  6. i have face book but rarely put anything on it. my blog goes up and down with me posting and that'e enough for me. rose

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Most times I'll respond back here. Sometimes I"ll answer back via email. Situation depending.