lent will be upon us before long, and i usually give up something for it. usually something food wise, but i'm thinking more techno this year. i'm thinking about giving up Facebook/ravelry/blogs for lent.
it's amazing how pervasive technology is in our lives. i am able to keep in touch with old school mates, talk to people on a different continent and learn about breaking stories as they occur. i love keeping up with everyone, but some days news and chatter make me feel bad. i'm not alone; apparently someone did a study on this. allow me to explain.
i love Facebook; i love keeping up with old friends. i enjoy hearing about the good (and sometimes not so good) things happening to them. some days the news makes me feel alone (oh my goodness the boy is smart but not that smart oh my goodness the kiddos don't do this oh my goodness we still live in an old house in the ghetto oh my goodness doesn't anyone give a toss about my knitting/sewing/crafting etc etc etc). ugh.
ravelry has opened up a whole world to me (and i have the knitting world literally at my fingertips) but some days i wish i could just drop out. i avoid certain threads becos they make me feel like crap (oh my goodness there are kids younger than mine who are potty trained and mine can't be bothered holy shit there's a two month old who's potty trained oh my goodness i didn't breast feed/cloth diaper/cosleep my twins becos i was scared and i valued my sleep over their well-being and the dirty hippie mommies think i'm worthless oh my goodness i wish i could crank out the knits these moms have a gazillion kids and can knit lace why can't i? oh my goodness i want ALL THE FANCY YARN and can't afford squat yada yada yada).
then there are the blogs. some of my favorites have ceased existence (that would be mooncalf makes, eskimimi and the pine valley bulletin). others post irregularly (french press knits and grumperina, but for good reason - they had babies). there's a chunk of blogs that i followed becos i liked what they said faith wise. but i also dropped a bunch becos oh my goodness my faith is strong but not THAT strong oh my goodness my family's not affluent oh my goodness my family is large but not THAT large oh my goodness we can't afford a second house on the lake oh my goodness STFU about vacation we won't be going on a big vacation again this year (#yarnharlot) blah blah blah.
i even toyed with putting my blog on hiatus for lent and taking a break from blogging. this past week i was sick with a cold, and it took all my energy just to keep up with the (non-sick) kiddos and it was an effort to do simple blogging. for the first time in a long time, it felt good to not blog. does anyone really care what i say anyway?
see what i'm saying?
having a life online can be a good thing. staying in touch with people is so easy becos of it. however, what good is it when it makes me feel bad about myself, as a woman, a mother, a crafter and a christian? i talked to hubby about this last night at supper. he's not as socially wired as i am (which is ironic considering his job is computers) but it's also a reason why he's avoided social networking in the first place. he feels no need to keep up with others. i can see his point now.
on the other hand, some news is parlayed to me only by social networking. i had to "friend" the boy's chorale Facebook page becos his director posts updates on the wall and finds it easier than emailing. i post my knitting projects on ravelry as a way to keep track of modifications and details. could i do that for 40 days?
i know people who dropped Facebook for lent and lived to tell the tale! i know it's doable. i think about how much time i would save by not logging onto my Facebook app on my phone (a couple times a day) or raveling (at least an hour a day) or reading blogs (checking blog feed a couple times a day). how many more books could i read? how much knitting or sewing could i get done? i'd have more free time than i'd know what to do with! how much better would i feel about myself if i wasn't comparing myself to others then feeling despair becos i felt like i wasn't measuring up?
i still have a few weeks to make a decision. i'd love to hear any stories about dropping out socially online!
it's amazing how pervasive technology is in our lives. i am able to keep in touch with old school mates, talk to people on a different continent and learn about breaking stories as they occur. i love keeping up with everyone, but some days news and chatter make me feel bad. i'm not alone; apparently someone did a study on this. allow me to explain.
i love Facebook; i love keeping up with old friends. i enjoy hearing about the good (and sometimes not so good) things happening to them. some days the news makes me feel alone (oh my goodness the boy is smart but not that smart oh my goodness the kiddos don't do this oh my goodness we still live in an old house in the ghetto oh my goodness doesn't anyone give a toss about my knitting/sewing/crafting etc etc etc). ugh.
ravelry has opened up a whole world to me (and i have the knitting world literally at my fingertips) but some days i wish i could just drop out. i avoid certain threads becos they make me feel like crap (oh my goodness there are kids younger than mine who are potty trained and mine can't be bothered holy shit there's a two month old who's potty trained oh my goodness i didn't breast feed/cloth diaper/cosleep my twins becos i was scared and i valued my sleep over their well-being and the dirty hippie mommies think i'm worthless oh my goodness i wish i could crank out the knits these moms have a gazillion kids and can knit lace why can't i? oh my goodness i want ALL THE FANCY YARN and can't afford squat yada yada yada).
then there are the blogs. some of my favorites have ceased existence (that would be mooncalf makes, eskimimi and the pine valley bulletin). others post irregularly (french press knits and grumperina, but for good reason - they had babies). there's a chunk of blogs that i followed becos i liked what they said faith wise. but i also dropped a bunch becos oh my goodness my faith is strong but not THAT strong oh my goodness my family's not affluent oh my goodness my family is large but not THAT large oh my goodness we can't afford a second house on the lake oh my goodness STFU about vacation we won't be going on a big vacation again this year (#yarnharlot) blah blah blah.
i even toyed with putting my blog on hiatus for lent and taking a break from blogging. this past week i was sick with a cold, and it took all my energy just to keep up with the (non-sick) kiddos and it was an effort to do simple blogging. for the first time in a long time, it felt good to not blog. does anyone really care what i say anyway?
see what i'm saying?
having a life online can be a good thing. staying in touch with people is so easy becos of it. however, what good is it when it makes me feel bad about myself, as a woman, a mother, a crafter and a christian? i talked to hubby about this last night at supper. he's not as socially wired as i am (which is ironic considering his job is computers) but it's also a reason why he's avoided social networking in the first place. he feels no need to keep up with others. i can see his point now.
on the other hand, some news is parlayed to me only by social networking. i had to "friend" the boy's chorale Facebook page becos his director posts updates on the wall and finds it easier than emailing. i post my knitting projects on ravelry as a way to keep track of modifications and details. could i do that for 40 days?
i know people who dropped Facebook for lent and lived to tell the tale! i know it's doable. i think about how much time i would save by not logging onto my Facebook app on my phone (a couple times a day) or raveling (at least an hour a day) or reading blogs (checking blog feed a couple times a day). how many more books could i read? how much knitting or sewing could i get done? i'd have more free time than i'd know what to do with! how much better would i feel about myself if i wasn't comparing myself to others then feeling despair becos i felt like i wasn't measuring up?
i still have a few weeks to make a decision. i'd love to hear any stories about dropping out socially online!
This is thought provoking, and I don't know if I could go cold turkey from social networking, but putting a very limited access onto it, simply because certain people only use FB for things like kid's practice.
ReplyDeleteAlso for lent, it's in the giving up, but also in something good to replace it - I think I'm doing charity knitting time in the time I give up. That way it's a win-win.
Great post!