We’ve been at this for a month! (Feb 5-11)
This week in snapshots:
Lived in: Laramie, WY
Reading: Born for Significance (Bill Johnson)
Podcast: Bema
Album: For We Are Not Yet, We Are Only Becoming (Comrades)
Playing: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Happy Saturday to you!
This week marks 30 days since I've logged off Facebook and Instagram, so here's my thoughts.
As I expected, my mind cleared up very quickly and my attention span seems to be better. (Although by the end of a 2-week stint, exhaustion takes that away again 😅) I have found it pretty easy to direct the habitual phone flip into more creative energies like prepping snapshots, working on doodles, and writing these letters. I feel like what I have to say comes from a sincere place of connection instead of posturing!
I didn't expect it to get harder to resist the urge - the first two weeks it was incredibly easy to stay off of FB+IG, the third week, not so much. And while I expected to miss Marketplace, I didn't expect it to be my primary temptation to log back in. 🙄 Turns out, maybe I don't have so much of a social media addiction as a shopping addiction made palatable by my punk-rock view of the world that prefers to buy second-hand instead of from a faceless corporation 😂
Facebook sends me emails now that it hasn't sent me before: "See what _person I really love_ shared!" Instagram emails to the tune of, "See how much your following has grown!"
It definitely makes me feel like I'm doing something right.
I haven't cut out Youtube because it is a great source of learning. But I do need to watch myself, because its algorithms suck you into all learning and no doing... which is super beyond the point 😅
All in all: I don't feel like I have lost anything. What I've gained is the pleasant surprise that I actually *can* stay creative and not feel like what I'm making is soul-sucking. (Nor maybe is it any good, but I can make it for the love of the art instead of for the almighty algorithm.)
I'm not going back anytime soon, because I would like to learn how to really connect with people in more profound ways - through long-form connection like these letters and face-to-face interactions - before I decide if I can do that from the vantage of Meta’s websites.
So. Share some wisdoms with me.
What does connection look like to you? What is your trivial-to-meaningful connection ratio - do you prefer more small talk or more deep talk, and who do you choose to engage with on either conversation? Who do you prioritize connecting with? How do you decide? And how do you remain connected with people who are long-distance?
Excited to hear about your experience with the connected
—Beth
