It’s time.
I’m preceding to phase two of my plan to redesign how I view my time. In what I’ll call “Phase One” (covered in my previous post), I talked about wanting to get out and actually live a life I’m proud of rather than wasting time on the internet. I feel I’ve done a fairly decent job. I biked as much as I could last fall (and am dying to get back out there at the first hint of spring), I recorded a song, I spent a lot of time with my family and am making plans for as much travelling this year as possible.
“Phase Two”, however, has more to do with how I am planning to constructively spend my time while actually on the net. And what that means for me is giving up Facebook for a little while.
Yup, that’s right. I’m giving up Facebook.
Ok, ok, I’ll go ahead and concede: I’ll most likely be back. As for now, I’ve simply had too much and it’s time to pare back things that are crowding my consciousness. There are many big decisions lurking around the corner in my life. And I only want to hear the truest voices and most sincere. I only want to hear Your voice.
It’s funny, though, because I’ve recently reached the 600 “friend” mark. The mere cacophony of so many statuses and events vying for my attention each night as I scroll through them is astounding. I sit in a daze awaiting interaction. I sit amazed at how I ever kept in touch with anyone before it’s existence.
It truly is a marvel to behold.
I’m not here to cast judgment. Only to call out myself. I need a change. I want to be ignorant to the current trends. I don’t want to know what people are doing. I want to find out the old fashioned way. Facebook has become the alcohol of the internet for me. Something to sip between breaths of life. Something I do because there isn’t anything else to do. Something to kill time. But I’m sick of killing time. I want to bring it back to life again.
I’ve never observed Lent before. This year I’ve finally realized its worth: it is, at its core, freedom. It’s giving up something that we don’t have to give up simply because we have the power to do so. We have the choice. We don’t have to be a slave to anything, no matter how good. Lent is the act of giving up something unsinful for a time to renew your focus on God. I can think of many things much more sinful than Facebook that I need to give up (though I should be working to give them up anyways), but I can think of nothing more Lent-worthy than Facebook.
My goal is not to give up on the internet entirely. This isn’t my “going hermit and moving into the woods” moment (though the ridiculous things people say on Facebook make the thought of it very tempting at times). I’ll probably check Twitter now and again, maybe Tumblr, but my Facebook is going to be defunct until at least Easter. That’s how I’m limiting myself. We’ll see what happens. I, myself, am very excited.
I’m also excited to get back to blogging regularly. I used to be very faithful at it back in the day. I loved it and looked forward to it. It used to be my chief online activity. Now I cheat myself with 140 character clever turns of phrase. With snarky comments on other people’s ideas. I desire to wholly give myself to one concise avenue of mental release, instead of parsing my thoughts across so many different mediums.
And this will be that place. I’ll upload pictures, update everyone on life (if you so wonder), and all that. I’ll also be checking my email. My phone still works. Life goes on.
In related news: I just received my fully licensed (a.k.a legal) version of Cubase 5 in the mail today and plan to begin recording almost immediately. I have to make a quick detour to the wonderful, friend-filled land of Missouri for a few days. But after, music-making to it’s fullest.
It’s just time.