Deactivate

It was time for a break.  It was cluttering my mind and taking precious time away from things that matter most.  I battled back and forth, discussing the pros and cons endlessly with myself.

So yes, I committed social suicide last week by leaving facebook - gasp.

It was like breaking up with a really cool, but unstable boyfriend.  The guy you think is really great for you because everyone says how amazing you are together, but deep down you know he's nothing but trouble.  Really, I liked facebook, a lot.  I love to socialize - I'm a overly social person (if you haven't figured that out already ;-).  I still remember my 8th grade English teacher reminding me that if my academic skills were as brilliant as my social skills, I'd be a genius.

Of course we were a perfect match.  However, my desire to be social and my love of people and friends led me to forget the things that deep down I know make me the happiest and bring the most fulfillment. Facebook became my "downtime" and began to slowly replace the activities that used to fill that precious time.  A few weeks ago, I realized it had been so long since I'd really sat down at the piano, which used to be one of my favorite downtime activities.

So I'm taking a long break from social media.  I have to admit that the habit to check facebook is strong, but the feeling of freedom is stronger.  I don't know if it will be a forever thing because there are many qualities I liked about the site, but for now, being out of the loop and not knowing what everyone is up to has been unbelievably liberating.

I'm sure I'll be back eventually, and when I make that decision I'll most likely discreetly log on and clear out a few "friends" whom I really don't even know personally, and hopefully my reunion with facebook will be much more healthy and stable :-).