I have been thinking about doing this for a while. I have decided to extract myself from Facebook. At first I thought I would take myself off all together, but now I realize that I don't think I can do that. It's become an important tool to connect with resources, if nothing else.
I did decide to take the application off my phone last week, and I am feeling good about that decision. That being said, I still pick up my phone expecting to see some sort of notification from FB. I felt like I was going through withdrawls earlier this week, and now less so.
I was talking with my bestie Kelly this weekend and I was sharing how disconnected I am feeling from people. I spend all day with my colleagues, who are lovely individuals, and they are not my people (barring a small handful I have known since grad school). I am not playing kickball or bowling, so those folks are no longer around. I am not cheerleading or active in what remains of the Fat Activism community. I am not in grad school anymore, so that community is out as well. It's like there is a big void in my connection with people. I was grateful that Dexter has been on the last few months as it brought another bestie, Moop to me weekly.
I have tried to organize monthly (or there abouts) gatherings of friends, and that has helped. And I completely miss connecting with people. Some might argue that leaving/reducing FB time would be counter intuitive to those feelings, but I find that to be exactly opposite of my truth. I found myself being a passive friend via the FB medium. I could surf the pages of friends and know just about everything going on at a surface level (and sometimes deeper) with them and have no connection to them. I don't like that void.
If you are my friend, I want you here with me. I want to sit at a dinner table and laugh until we hurt together. I want to snuggle on a couch and watch movies. I want to check out all the restaurants and coffee shops in my new neighborhood together. I want to ride the Spring Water corridor trail to Gresham (and beyond!) with you. What I want is connection, real human connection.
So let's do this! Who's with me? I am taking names on my list of (mis)adventures and I would love to add you to it!
I did decide to take the application off my phone last week, and I am feeling good about that decision. That being said, I still pick up my phone expecting to see some sort of notification from FB. I felt like I was going through withdrawls earlier this week, and now less so.
I was talking with my bestie Kelly this weekend and I was sharing how disconnected I am feeling from people. I spend all day with my colleagues, who are lovely individuals, and they are not my people (barring a small handful I have known since grad school). I am not playing kickball or bowling, so those folks are no longer around. I am not cheerleading or active in what remains of the Fat Activism community. I am not in grad school anymore, so that community is out as well. It's like there is a big void in my connection with people. I was grateful that Dexter has been on the last few months as it brought another bestie, Moop to me weekly.
I have tried to organize monthly (or there abouts) gatherings of friends, and that has helped. And I completely miss connecting with people. Some might argue that leaving/reducing FB time would be counter intuitive to those feelings, but I find that to be exactly opposite of my truth. I found myself being a passive friend via the FB medium. I could surf the pages of friends and know just about everything going on at a surface level (and sometimes deeper) with them and have no connection to them. I don't like that void.
If you are my friend, I want you here with me. I want to sit at a dinner table and laugh until we hurt together. I want to snuggle on a couch and watch movies. I want to check out all the restaurants and coffee shops in my new neighborhood together. I want to ride the Spring Water corridor trail to Gresham (and beyond!) with you. What I want is connection, real human connection.
So let's do this! Who's with me? I am taking names on my list of (mis)adventures and I would love to add you to it!
I posted this on FB but then thought I should post it here too!!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your recent blog post Liv and I totally related to it!! I work from home so connection is even harder to come by without a significant effort....Good reflection on your part!
Sign me up. I should be in Portland in January; let's get together then. Also, we're a good stopping point on your way to Boise.
ReplyDelete