Perhaps you know already – I logged off Facebook and Twitter a couple of weeks ago and haven’t once felt the desire to check back in. It was much easier than I expected and I’m so happy about that. I’m not missing the constant irrelevance and suggestions as to what I should be reading/watching/buying/ANGRY about/laughing at.
It’s not that I’m not missing the controversy – as contrived as it could get at times. Some of my friends and I really appreciate respectful and thoughtful debate, even while we disagree. But they are my friends – people with whom I’d shared a portion of my life in person. The part I didn’t like was the consistent twist of reality to fit a perspective that I saw in most everything else.
Surprising in all of this is the discovery of an even deeper clarity concerning the issues of the day. As counter-intuitive as it may sound, I believe the fact that I’m no longer invested has been my greatest source of freedom. I don’t watch the news (intentionally) and I don’t follow the “pundits.” I live. And when snippets sneak through, I move on, because life moves on whether I rail or not. I’ve developed the healthy habit of asking myself “would this matter if I had never seen it?” Quite often the answer is a resounding “no,” and in the short time of my exodus, the answer is even more firmly so. But now I’ve got the added advantage that my mind is far less cluttered and my emotional well-being is far stronger.
I must admit though that there was an initial hesitation (although that diminishes precipitously as the days go by) in that I thought social media was a catalyst for a lot of ideas. And this seemed true. I mean, if you looked at my laptop from the time before I started writing on this blog, you’d see that I did a lot of writing just for myself. When I look back at those notes and essays, I see largely hot-button issues that I knew I couldn’t share without offending people. And yet I felt the need to formulate my thoughts. It was certainly helpful and in some cases the writing was decent (if I say so myself). Yet those are things that will never see the light of day. Just too rough. Too unpolished.
But here I am now, committing to putting something out there. When I started, I pondered whether I could really have anything to say. Initially I concluded that it didn’t matter if anyone read it, but I’ve learned since then that having others read is itself a motivation to keep writing.
So I write. And I feel like it’s getting easier. I’m slowly polishing the rougher edges, and finding more as I explore. One thing I’ve learned quite quickly – forcing myself to write every day has been an incredible exercise. There’s something important about being on a “deadline,” even if it’s self-imposed. Sitting down at 7pm with nothing in mind but knowing you’ve got to get something out there before you go to bed makes things happen. Now, they may not be good things, but they are things nonetheless.
And it seems to be working. I appreciate very much anyone else’s role in continuing the motivation along the way. I only ask that you not be shy with the comments. It really is how I learn…
