Need to Know Basis

This is so cliche but I gave up facebook for Lent.  I know that there is tons of media surrounding the social networking site right now but I think it's necessary.  I did it last year too but not to this extent.  Last year, I just said that I wouldn't check it and that I could have an hour a day on Sundays.  I gave it up last year because one of those jack-in-the-box x-bf's that I notoriously have (I see a pattern of questionable behavior on my part, at 25 at least I recognize it - isn't that the first step to recovery or redirection at least?) popped back into my world for a short stint.  We were catching up after at least a year of not seeing/talking on a regular basis and we both realized how much we knew about each other that we really shouldn't since we hadn't talked in so long.  So it challenged me to consider how linked in Facebook was to my everyday life.  This year it is deeper I am challenged by priorities, by where I am in life and how my discipline or lack thereof has/will influence where I am going.  So as I learn the skill of discipline and hopefully start to become a confident grown person, I am challenged by how engrossed I am in this need-to-know culture of personal lives as entertainment, leisure and relaxation.  And how much access I have to things that hurt me or that I could use to hurt others through misusing shared information.  Now, I'm not saying that Facebook is the devil's tool or that it doesn't have its merit but just like any other possible antagonist it needs moderation, boundaries, and limitations.  I sincerely miss the ease of sharing memories or a quick note to spread sunshine but I don't miss the thought that Facebook has made it easy to be lonely in the world, that it has given a forum for vulnerability that may not be appropriate, and that like janky reality tv, I sometimes turn to facebook to look at others' lives to take my personal spotlight off of my own.

So I deactivated...

I found a book of stamps in my wallet and I've been sending some emails, I favorited some blogs to keep me connected and give me an outlet for relationships.  I'm going with the need to know basis approach this Lenten season - not that Y'ALL really needed to know all of this!