this year i decided to take on the challenge of having a one month facebook fast for the entire month of january. some of our friends have been doing the fast each year for a few years … and to tell you the truth, they never seem to miss out on much ! i am probably addicted to fb (like many of us!) in the same way that i’m addicted to instagram (& now vine…). i am not the kind of fb user who posts status updates on fb all the time, but i am the type of fb user who is checking it constantly. when i’m at the traffic lights, while the dinner is cooking, when i wake up in the morning or go to sleep at night, brushing my teeth etc. it’s just so easy to check fb on my phone & so i do. i feel like fb is my source of knowledge and news about the day’s happenings and it never fails.
so, for me, a fb fast was a BIG deal. what would i miss out on? would my ‘social life’ decline because i am not accessing all those party invites? how will i get updated on the most relevant news? will my ‘friends’ miss me? will they even notice that i am not on fb?
here are some thoughts on what i noticed by not being on fb for a month:
* i did miss out. but not on anything important. just a few pictures here and there, and perhaps a party invite or two… but it was not a big deal. in fact, i found that i was conversing more with my friends to get updated on what was going on in their lives, asking them to show me their pictures on their phones etc.
* i was proactive in my friendships. because i did not have my knowledge source to hand, i had to actively go out and check in on my friends. i texted, emailed … i even called people!
* i spent more time with my family. one of my new year resolutions this year is to focus on my marriage to make it excellent which has the side effect of making family life excellent too. i found that i was spending more time talking with mark about things that matter to us at the moment, dreaming about the future, basking in the excitement of the impending arrival of our third child, dreaming of what family life will be like in just a few weeks, reminiscing on great family memories and thinking about creating new ones… i also found that i was spending much less time on my phone, and much more time playing with our kids. sad, i know. this is something that i noticed really changed our relationship … we have spent more time reading books during the day (rather than in the morning and evening), playing cars or dolls etc. and i had the glory of just sitting and watching my kids play without any distraction … so incredibly rewarding.
* i found a range of other sources to be inspired creatively, spiritually and in our family life. it has been a really good change.
i still haven’t made the plunge to get back on fb, but that will happen soon enough ! i will definitely do a fb fast again for january 2014 … and i am looking forward to it.
have you ever tried a fb fast or something similar?
xx
image from here.
